Relationship Renaissance
by junienmomo
Summary: Starting with the waltz, we look at Luke and Lorelai in a slightly AU setting (I play fast and loose with the original plot, it's not Gilmore Girl Zombies). Lots of mushy smooching and stuff. Javajunkie and Literati. The first M-rated chapter (number 5, Their First Time) is up and can be found behind the M filter under Relationship Renaissance Gets Dirty
1. Date Mode

Luke whispered "whoa" under his breath as he headed home, highly satisfied with his "date by the book."

"Wait, what was that? Did I just agree to go out on a date with Luke?" Lorelai asked herself. "Was tonight a date?" No answer came. She did know one thing, though, it was too early for this "whatever it was" to end.

Lorelai ran across the grass to the sidewalk and followed Luke, who had moved quickly, energized by his success with his dream girl. Going across the grass her footsteps were silent, but when she started running on the sidewalk, her heels tapped loudly enough for Luke to hear, but he had no reaction.

At the last streetlight Lorelai stopped and called his name. He turned, saw her standing in a pool of light, flushed, breathing hard. She extended her arm, palm down, as if she wanted him to take her hand.

He moved quickly to her side, much quicker than when he left. Trying to keep his own excitement under control, he focused on her hand as he took it in his own. Gently rubbing his finger over her knuckles, he looked up at Lorelai, tenderness showing in his expression. His face broadened into a smile that crinkled around his eyes.

Her pulse raced, his look was simply devastating. How could this be the same person who complained while he served her breakfast this morning?

"Come sit with me on the porch for a little while," she said, "Let's have a beer or something."

"O-kay" he drew the word out a little.

They went up the steps and she guided him to the wicker settee.

Lorelai stumbled over her own words in her haste to get them out. "Something to drink? I have beer, I think, or wine, or maybe water. I could make some tea if you like?"

Stepping to the door, she twisted her fingers together, then furiously pulled them apart, shaking the tension out of her hands. "Hold this together, Gilmore, it's just Luke," she cautioned herself.

She opened the door and turned back to him, shielding herself from whatever it was that was making her act like an idiot.

"A beer would be great," answered Luke, looking at her with warmth in his eyes. He rearranged his jacket and settled more comfortably on the settee.

In the house Lorelai went straight to the kitchen and leaned up against the wall, feeling the cool, sturdy support at her back. Slightly recovered, she grabbed two beer from the fridge and went back outside.

Outside, Luke had taken the extra pillows and fluffed them for her. She sat next to him and crossed her legs, then handed him his beer. He took a very long draft, glad for a moment of familiarity in this world, sitting next to Lorelai, whose face he had seen when he fantasized about exactly these moments.

Swinging her leg nervously, Lorelai spoke. "So…" Even though she could feel the silence hanging there, heavy, she said nothing more.

His elbows rested on his knees, both hands wrapped around the beer bottle, he turned his head toward her and said, "Thanks for the beer. It's nice." Pause. "So…?"

"Nice?"

"Nice. Good beer. " Luke began to relax a little as he started to realize Lorelai was more nervous than he was. He smiled at her, letting her feel the moment. He sat back, laid his arm across the back of the settee and turned to face her. Her arms were crossed in her lap, and her foot was swinging a little too fast.

No way out now, she thought, better to just jump. "So, um, this was a nice date," she said, lowering her eyes and looking at her hands before looking at him. Unseen to her, his face lit up, pleasure visible in his eyes.

"Right? It was a date, right?" She repeated the affirmative words, hoping to get the same answer in return. She held her breath.

His eyes crinkled again. "Right. I've been looking forward to this date since you accepted my invitation."

Lorelai exhaled and flashed him her million dollar smile, albeit still a little nervous.

She pulled off her shoes, leaned back in her corner of the settee. Pulling her feet up and tucking them underneath her skirt, she knew suddenly where she was – in date mode. Date mode with Luke was definitely not the standard date mode, but there was a certain thrill.

"A date. Now that could be a problem, don't you think?" she asked, a spark of humor in her eye.

Luke, missing the spark, replied, "No, I don't see it. There were no problems tonight. What problems do you see?" He shifted uncomfortably, wondering what he'd missed.

"Do you remember when we discussed our dating skills, you know, the night Rory played in Romeo and Juliet at Chilton? We kinda both recognized that we don't really have this dating thing down, remember?" Lorelai's face grew warm, remembering that moment. She touched her cheek with cold fingers.

"True, but a little more experience has improved things, don't you think?" asked Luke. "Don't forget, we also have our promise: we'll always be there for each other. I'll always be there for you, you'll always be there for me, in my life, permanently, forever."

He bent forward and pondered his shoes, while Lorelai stared at the front yard, thinking, "Wow. Sure sounds a lot different when he says it."

Gathering herself together, Lorelai nodded, saying, "Good. Now starts date mode, OK?"

"Date mode? What the hell is date mode?" he chuckled. "Sure, why not. Show me what 'date mode' is. Have I done it right so far?"

"Definitely yes, your date mode performance has exceeded all expectations. Gold star for you, maybe another photo up at Stars Hollow High," her smile twinkled.

"Alright, the basics of date mode are easy," said Lorelai. "First, do something both of you can enjoy."

Luke replied, "The wedding – you got a break from the inn, dressed up a little fruity, nice outfit, by the way, we mocked the renaissance crowd, and we danced. Sounds like we achieved the first goal." He relaxed back onto the settee, adjusting his pants to keep the crease sharp, moving a little closer to Lorelai.

Lorelai continued, "Second, take some time to get to know each other."

"Not necessary. We've known each other for eight years. "

"Yes necessary. We know each other as friends, not as er, um, NOT friends." Lorelai started to feel uncomfortable.

"You date 'not friends'?" Luke asked, eyes squinting.

"Not 'not friends,' you're dating someone you might want to have a relationship with," interjected Lorelai.

"I see," said Luke, "we already have a relationship. We've had a relationship for eight years, AND it's gotten better each year."

"Not just a relationship, a- a- a permanent relationship!"

"Didn't we just agree we have a permanent relationship?" Luke was grinning.

"Oh you drive me crazy! You just want me to say it, don't you!" Lorelai pounded her fist on the arm of the settee.

A delighted laugh fell from his lips. "OK, my turn, I'll let you off the hook," he said.

Lorelai was still pouting.

Luke continued. "I go with my gut. If my gut says it's right, it is right. This evening, it felt right. I'm totally comfortable with you, and I had a great time. No 'date mode,' no labels, just us. It's that simple." Luke paused. "What does your gut tell you?"

"Hey, my gut ran down the street and brought you back here. The one thing I knew when you left was that I wasn't ready to say goodnight." She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a mock challenging stare.

Luke stared back, disconcerted. "O-kay. Round one, Lorelai."

He reached for her and pulled her closer. One hand around her waist, he reached over and fingered a stray curl.

"Seems to me there's only first date thing left to try," he said tenderly, as he leaned over and kissed her.

Lorelai put her hands on Luke's cheeks and kissed him back, deepening the kiss as she threaded her fingers into his hair. She broke the kiss just long enough to whisper, "Round two, Luke."

They eventually came up for air and decided to go find another beer.

"You said earlier that things are going better with Jess?" Lorelai asked, making conversation.

"Better than he was when he lived here. He's gotten a job as a courier, which isn't much, but he's at least showing some responsibility. I'm pretty proud that he came here for his mom's wedding. Do you know he even gave me a telephone number? I can actually call him."

"Well, you should be proud. Not only did you go to New York and get him to come to the wedding, but it sounds like some of the good things you tried to teach him sank in. That's a lot to be proud of." Lorelai clinked bottles with Luke, drank and she played with the edge of his jacket as they stood side by side, leaning up against the counter.

Luke had his arm around Lorelai's shoulder and was smoothing her hair with his hand when he noticed the back door standing slightly open.

"What's that? Did you leave the door open? What were you thinking?" He grumbled. He walked over to the door and discovered the keys were still in the lock.

"I was thinking I can't get the key out," said Lorelai. "It's no big deal," she continued, disappointed that he'd broken their hug.

"It is a big deal, it needs to be fixed." Luke jiggled the keys and twisted the knob and after a few seconds the keys came out. "Here. Call me to replace the lock if it happens again." He closed the back door.

"Luke, enough of Mr. Fixit, we're on a date. You are not going to spend the evening fixing things. Let's go back to the porch." Lorelai wove her fingers through his and guided him towards the door. Luke put the keys on the table, picked up their beer bottles and followed willingly.

Lorelai picked up a quilt off the chair in the foyer and carried it outside. She wrapped it around herself as she settled in place on the settee. She bent her knees and tucked her bare feet under Luke's wool-clad thigh as he took his place beside her.

"OK, we're back to our date," he said. "What now?"

"Well, on a first date, we have to present ourselves in the best light possible. For example, instead of 'talks incessantly' I'm an 'open communicator.'" Lorelai grinned at Luke as he snorted derisively.

"Instead of being Monosyllabic Man, you are …"

"Succinct, concise. Pithy."

"Yes! You've got it!" She laughed out loud and put her hand on Luke's as he caressed her knees through the quilt.

"On a first date, I'm not weirdly connected to my daughter, but committed to parenting. You aren't the Euell Gibbons of the new millennium, but …"

"Euell Gibbons? Where did you get that?" Luke laughed.

"Oh, Jess brought it up one day when we were bonding."

"Jess? Jess told you I was the Euell Gibbons of the new millennium?"

"Not quite. He said, 'Euell Gibbons wasn't a healthy eater like Luke.'" Luke roared with laughter.

"OK, let's go with healthy eater," Luke said. "Dresses fruity?"

"Creative fashion sense. Backwards baseball cap and flannel shirt?"

"Casual dresser. Compulsively participates in every Stars Hollow festival?"

"Active in her community. Makes countless repairs on his friend's house before she even knows they are needed?

"Neighborly. Helps out with his uncle's funeral?"

"Loyal," said Lorelai.

"Goes above and beyond the call of friendship," corrected Luke.

"Takes in his sister's kid without hesitating and asks for nothing in return?" prompted Lorelai.

"Crazy."

"Luke … try again."

"Believes in strong family relationships. Built her own inn?"

"A hard worker with a good mentor. Built a chuppah?" Lorelai looked at Luke through her eyelashes, remembering the moment.

"Likes woodworking."

"Close, but no cigar. Did I ever say thank you for the chuppah?" Lorelai pulled her legs down off the settee and slid over to Luke, putting her hand on his jaw and kissing him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Did I ever thank you for the baseball cap? Thank you." Kissed back.

"I'm sure I forgot to thank you for getting the key out of my door. Thank you." Kiss.

"You took over the diner work while I arranged Louie's funeral. Thank you." Kiss.

"You made me soup when I had a cold. Thank you." Kiss.

"You defended Jess at that town meeting. Thank you." Kiss.

"You taught me how to start a business. Thank you." Kiss.

"You gave me flowers last Thanksgiving. Thank you." Kiss.

"You lent me your truck. Thank you." Kiss.

"Barbie Band-Aid." Kiss.

"Finding Rory's chick." Kiss.

The gratitude continued until there was nothing left but the kissing.

Luke finally pulled away. "If we want the second date to be as good as the first, we'd better save something."

"Second dates are never as good as the first. It's hopeless." Lorelai brushed away imaginary dirt from his shoulder.

"So we should lower our expectations for the next date?" he asked.

"Oh, no, the only way to make sure the second date is bad is to have too-high expectations," Lorelai explained.

"We have to plan our second date to be better than a Renaissance wedding, dressing fruity, dancing and hours spent necking on the front porch? And do all of this knowing it will be disappointing, no matter how hard we try?"

"Don't forget the waltz. The waltz was a critical success factor, and yes, you now have the challenge to outdo yourself on our second date." She smiled at him teasingly.

"Sounds like a lot of work to do something that we know we're going to not enjoy as much. Wouldn't it be easier to just plan a disappointing second date from the start?"

"Tell you what, give that a try and I'll let you know if it worked."

"Good, I'll think of something. Now I need to go, the diner opens in just a few hours." Luke stood up, pulled Lorelai to her feet as she played rag doll, not wanting the moment to end.

Lorelai sighed, wrapping her arms around Luke's waist. "Back to the inn tomorrow for me. We are so close, but there's still so much to do. Every Chinese person in the world. That's my list."

"How about if you give me a call before you come to the diner tomorrow and I'll fix you a special breakfast. You are coming to the diner tomorrow, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. It's fun watching sleepy Luke turn into grumpy Luke when I place my order. Do you still make that special omelet?"

"This dating thing isn't going to get you to cut me any slack, is it?" Luke began to see his future.

"Wait and see, my friend, wait and see."

Standing there, he took her hand as if they were about to dance again, then pulled it close to his chest. They swayed slowly, rotating on their own axis, until Luke tore himself away and made his way down the steps and across the grass.

The next morning, Jess was working in the diner when Lorelai called.

Surprised to hear Jess' voice, she said, "Hello? Jess?"

"Yeah. Hi Lorelai."

"Hi. Um…"

"Don't worry, I got it. He's still upstairs. I'll let him know you called. Any message?"

Disconcerted, Lorelai answered, "No, oh I mean yes! Let him know I'll be at the diner in about half an hour, OK? He wanted to know. Well, he said he wanted to know."

"He did, did he? Why is that?" he asked.

"Oh, you know, just one of those things we do. He promised he'd do something for me. That's Luke, always helping out a friend." answered Lorelai cagily.

"Promised he'd do something? Like what?" Jess asked, enjoying the torture he was inflicting. "A new dance step, perhaps? Or maybe a really really old dance step, like the oldest of all."

Cheeks burning, Lorelai responded, "Just tell him, would you please?"

"Let me make sure I've got the message right, OK?" Speaking loudly enough for Patty at a nearby table to hear, he continued. "You, Lorelai, want me to tell Luke that you'll be here in about half an hour because he promised he'd do something for you." He placed emphasis on the word 'do.' "Right?"

"Right, bye now, Jess, thanks a bunch," she replied with sarcasm in her voice.

Lorelai let her head sink onto her knees. This was going to be agonizing. Not only did Jess already know, but whoever was in the diner at that moment was surely going to bring in reinforcements. There'd be a full house by the time she got there.

Miss Patty called Jess over to her table. "What do you know? Did something happen after the wedding last night?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Jess with a half smile.

Patty arched an eyebrow. "My dear boy, you haven't messed with me yet. Everyone else in Stars Hollow are marshmallows compared to me. You saw the dance, and I saw the dance, and we both know what happened. There's no denying that, regardless of what Lorelai or Luke might say." Miss Patty looked Jess calmly in the eyes.

"Patty, I don't know what you're talking about. You're ready to pay and leave, right?" Jess countered.

"You silly, silly boy," she said, narrowing her eyes. "I'll have more coffee, thanks."

Jess went behind the curtain and bounded up the stairs. In the apartment, Luke was already awake and was on the sofa, drinking a cup of tea, his bare feet propped up on the coffee table. Something was in the oven which gave off a sweet smell.

"Luke."

Luke turned, laying his right arm over the back of the sofa. "Ah Jess. Something up?"

"Good question, maybe I should ask you the same thing."

"Jess." Luke was not pleased by the tone of Jess' voice.

"OK, OK, just wanted to let you know you got a call," said Jess. He watched Luke's face light up for a moment, then protectively close back down.

"Well, who was it? What did they want?" Luke tried to speak nonchalantly.

"It was Lorelai."

Luke began to get exasperated. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Did she leave a message?" growled Luke.

"Oh yeah, she said to tell you she'll be here in half an hour." Jess stared, expressionless, challenging Luke to speak.

Luke turned back around on the sofa "Good. Thanks for filling in for me this morning. Go downstairs and get some breakfast for yourself. I'll be down in a little while."

"Nah, it's looking kinda busy at the moment, I'll help out until the rush dies down."

After Jess left the apartment, Luke began to get ready. He checked the oven, then pulled the baking sheet out and laid it on the sink to cool. He shaved, using just a touch of aftershave, then looked in his closet. "No, no, no, no, no. Hmm." He pulled out a dress shirt that Lorelai had bought him a few years ago. "Where are those black pants?" he wondered. He pulled them out, put them on with the shirt, looked down, and immediately said, "No. Too much. It's breakfast, for God's sake, not a cocktail party."

Back to the closet. "Something more casual. No, no, no, this is getting ridiculous." He grabbed a pair of jeans and put them on. "Not enough." He reached for a newer pair of jeans, darker than the rest. "OK, that'll do."

Lorelai stared at her closet. Which outfits did Luke tell her he liked? Rory said he flirted with me lots of times. What was I wearing then? She grabbed the phone and called her.

"Hi Mom."

"What was I wearing the last time Luke flirted with me?" she asked hurriedly.

"When who did what? Luke? Oh, geez, how am I supposed to remember that? I'm busy studying, can you call back later, Mom?"

"I just need to have one outfit that I was wearing when Luke flirted with me. Don't you remember when that happened?"

"Mom, Luke has flirted with you numerous times. I didn't keep track of all of them."

"Well when was the last time?"

"I don't know, Mom, get a grip on yourself."

"Rory, do you remember any outfit he liked?"

"Eww, Mom, why are you asking these questions?"

"I think I'm dating Luke. I'm supposed to meet him at the diner in half an hour."

"You THINK you're dating him? How could you not know? It's really easy – 'Do you wanna go out? Yes or no.' Seems pretty clear to me."

"I don't know! All right, we kinda settled that question last night. I'm dating Luke."

"Good. A statement like that I can work with. So, what do you want the outfit to say to him?"

"I don't know. It's a little too soon for 'come and get it,' but it should definitely keep my options open."

"Options open? Mom, you need to be more forthcoming if you want me to help you. What happened last night?"

"Nothing! No, er Luke took me to his sister's wedding. Liz got married in a cute Renaissance ceremony right in the Stars Hollow town square. We went, we laughed, we ate, we danced, and he walked me home. That was it."

"You danced?"

"Yes, we waltzed, Luke can waltz."

"Luke can waltz?"

"Luke can waltz!"

"Look how you said 'Luke can waltz'!"

"I'm just saying I'm surprised that Luke can waltz.

It sounded more like, "I'm surprised I still have my clothes on."

"No, that thought came later."

"Mom! Didn't I tell you to get a grip on yourself!?"

"OK, we got to my house, and I invited him to sit on the porch and have a beer. Then we had the beer and we talked."

"You talked about …? What did you talk about?"

Lorelai grimaced. "I kinda asked him if we were on a date."

"You had to ask him if you were on a date? How could you not know?"

"I don't know how I didn't know. How come I don't know anything about Luke, like you and Sookie and half of Stars Hollow keeps telling me?"

"Mom, at this point I'm beginning to think that you are less a Mensa member than a Densa member. He flirts with you all the time. He constantly fixes things around the house."

"He flirts with every woman, especially the older ones. I might just be a pity flirt. He fixes things because he's being neighborly."

"A pity flirt. You can't possibly think that. For God's sake, he made you a chuppah! You were mooning all summer long about getting married to Max and Luke was off in his workshop carving you a giant wooden arch. Remember the week he spent working outside our house every single day, evenings too? Why did he do that?"

"That was because he was avoiding Rachel."

"And why was he avoiding Rachel?"

"I don't know."

"If you say 'I don't know' one more time, I'll scream. Then I'll put a personal ad in the Stars Hollow newspaper that reads, 'lonely inn owner in search of hunky flannel model' and put your phone number at the bottom. Now, tell me, why was he avoiding Rachel?"

"Because he didn't want to be with her anymore?"

"Good, good. What is the most logical reason he wouldn't want to be with Rachel anymore?"

"Because he was interested in someone else?"

"Yes, and how many beautiful women were in his life at the time excluding Rachel? Who was he giving all of his attention to? Why did he look like he wanted to crawl into the ground when Rachel asked him about your eyes?"

"I don… OK, I'm out. Wait, if that was true, why did he wait so long to ask me out?"

"He didn't wait, he kept trying, but you kept missing it. Hello Helen Keller – you were Cleopatra, queen of Denial. Now reset. What did you talk about after you clarified that you were on a date?"

"We talked about date mode and how to do it. We even worked down my date mode checklist."

"He was still there after you told him about date mode? Kudos to Luke. Then what happened?"

"He explained that he didn't need date mode, because he goes with his gut. That it felt right between us, the evening, everything, he was perfectly comfortable with me. And then we kissed."

"You kissed? A sisterly peck on the cheek? On top of your head? Or 'I'm surprised I still have my clothes on' kiss?"

"The last one. And a lot of it."

"You got lots of practice in?"

"I'm a sure bet for the Kissing Olympics next year."

"Mom, I have two pieces of bad news for you. One, you are not dating Luke."

"I'm not?!"

"No, you are in a relationship with Luke. The relationship he's been asking you to join for years. Get used to it, jump in feet first, go head over heels, ready set go! The other piece of bad news is you have just ten minutes left to get ready. No time to choose the perfect outfit, just cover the naughty bits and run. "

"OhmyGod! I gotta run! Bye sweets!"

"Naughty bits. What covers the naughty bits but still says 'let's play hide and seek' with them? Oh, for God's sake, it's breakfast, not a lap dance."

Lorelai threw on a summery dress, grabbed some sandals and bolted for the diner.

Luke came downstairs with his baking pan and practically threw Jess out of the kitchen, growling, "Go have breakfast!"

"Gotta cook it first."

"OK, but hurry up. Never mind, tell me what you want and I'll fix it. Just make it fast."

"Eggs Benedict with fresh hollandaise sauce."

"Scrambled eggs on toast and bacon. Got it. Go sit."

Jess headed out to the diner and tried to snag his favorite table in the back corner near the kitchen so he could read. The other tables were occupied, hardly a chair was empty.

Luke brought Jess' meal out, looked around the diner, then barked at Jess, "Your breakfast is over here!" He set the plate down at the very table Miss Patty was sitting at. Jess sighed and joined her.

He pulled out his book and started to read, but Patty reached over and took it away from him. "A gentleman keeps a lady entertained at the table with a genteel story. You ain't no gentleman and I ain't no lady, so tell me a story I can laugh at."

Luke looked out the window, then at his watch, then out the window again, then stalked back into the kitchen. Jess could see Lorelai running down the street. About a block away, she stopped, breathing hard. She adjusted her dress, checked her shoes and hair, then walked to the diner with a casual, free-spirited air.

The bells rang as she entered and Luke was immediately in the dining area. Jess got up to get a glass of orange juice and all three met in the middle of the room. Luke and Lorelai, who had been looking only at each other, jerked their heads around when Jess said, "Hi."

"Hi," said Luke to Lorelai in a deep tender voice. To Jess he just gave a dirty look.

"You kids have a good time last night?" Jess teased.

Flustered, Lorelai said "Hi, Jess" normally, then "Hi" to Luke in a softer voice, flipping her hair as she greeted him.

"Excuse me, just getting some juice." As he squeezed by them, he looked at the two of them still standing, hardly looking at each other, but not seeing anyone else. "There's a free table over there in the corner, Lorelai, right next to the kitchen," Jess added. "You want coffee, right?"

"I got the coffee," said Luke who stood aside to let Lorelai pass. He went to the coffee machine and Jess stood next to him, pouring his juice.

"Tie worked out alright, I see," Jess said.

"What? Yeah, great, great. Tie was perfect," replied Luke, carefully choosing a cup and taking it over to pour coffee for Lorelai.

Jess turned and leaned on the counter, looking at Patty. He smiled and gave her a wink. Returning to his table, Jess sat beside Patty, so both of them could watch the action.

Lorelai took a chair facing the back wall. Luke came to the table with the coffee and poured it. As he straightened up, he noticed the number of eyes directed towards their corner.

"Would you mind very much moving over here? I'm not going to be able to take care of you if I have to face all of their stares every time I come over," he said to Lorelai.

"Sure, I'm used to being the butt of the joke, so they can stare at me all they like." Lorelai shrugged as she moved to the chair facing the room.

"How did they even find out? What do they know?" Luke asked, putting his hands on the table and leaning forward a little.

"Jess helped a few of them this morning by repeating every word I said when I called," she said, "but the rest of it we caused all by ourselves."

"Why? What did we do? We were minding our own business."

"Dancing in front of a hundred people in the town square was a good start. It also didn't hurt that two of the party guests appear to be watching our every move. Just look at them sitting over there. It's like they bought tickets to a show. Did you ever see a more unlikely couple?" laughed Lorelai.

Luke looked at Patty and Jess and said, "You! Eat your meals!" Everyone in the diner suddenly put their heads down and focused on their food. He slumped into the chair next to Lorelai. "OK, I see what you mean."

"There was one more thing that might have given them a clue," said Lorelai. "Some people have a sixth sense for detecting 'special moments.' Patty is one of them, and it looks like Jess may be one, too. They were both there when we waltzed, and when we turned and you smiled, well…" She shrugged. "What's a girl to do?"

"It was a good night, wasn't it?" said Luke tenderly. He curled his fingers into hers.

"The best," she whispered.

Standing up, Luke asked, "Pancakes for you?"

"Pancakes sound great. Thanks."

He tapped his knuckles on her table, then headed back to the kitchen. She could hear him chatting with Caesar, talking about pineapple as he cooked her pancakes, then he told Caesar he was going on a break and to call him if he was needed.

Luke brought out a plate full of large yellow flowers and placed it in front of Lorelai. She looked down and could see her pancakes buried beneath a flowery blanket.

"How beautiful!" she exclaimed. "What are they?"

"They're pineapple flowers," Luke replied.

"I didn't know pineapples had such big flowers."

"They don't. Pineapples have tiny flowers that grow out of those little hard places on the outside of the pineapple. These flowers I made from slices of fresh pineapple this morning."

"But they're curly and pretty and brown on the edges. Are they going bad?" asked Lorelai.

"No, I put them in the oven so they would curl up real pretty and get brown on the edges. Try one. I'll go get myself a cup of tea and take a break with you while you eat."

Once the crowd realized there wasn't going to be any drama, they filtered out of the diner. Jess kept his eye on the customers while Miss Patty regaled him with stories of her youth. She had him laughing over and over.

"I don't think I've ever heard Jess laugh," commented Lorelai to Luke as he sat down next to her. "That's a sweet sound. And to see him carry on a conversation with Miss Patty, amazing."

"Yeah, it doesn't happen very often. Makes it all the better when you do hear it."

"Now these flowers are delicious. I'm loving this breakfast," said Lorelai. "I'll remember this all day when I'm slogging away at the Dragonfly."

"That is one of the downsides to being a business owner. You get to work all you can, then you get to work some more. There's always a new idea popping into my head, and so little time to make it happen. Still, it's better than working for someone else." Luke took a flower and munched on it as Lorelai finally worked her way down to the pancakes.

"You're coming to the test run, right? I've got a room reserved for you," asked Lorelai.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Doesn't your computer system have my reservation?"

"Oh, I'm sure it does, it's just nice to hear it from your lips," she flirted.

"Did you talk to Rory? I'd hate for her to hear a bunch of rumors before she hears it from you, and judging by the spike in my business this morning it's just a matter of time before someone tells her."

"Yes, I talked to her this morning. We're good," said Lorelai.

"Do you mean 'We're good' you and me with Rory? Or 'we're good' you and Rory? Or what?" Luke asked.

"She's good with all of it. By the way, she told me we weren't dating."

"She doesn't want us to date? That could be a problem, because I want to date you," he said, shifting in his seat a bit.

"No, that's not what she meant. She meant that we're already in a relationship, we're not 'just' dating. And she's good with that. I think she's kinda glad to have someone to share the burden of dealing with me. I stressed her a little when I called this morning."

"Did you tell her what kind of a relationship we're in? Is it a not 'not friends' relationship? Or some other kind of relationship?" Luke smiled.

Lorelai said, "I told her we're just going with the gut thing and will see where it leads."

"Sounds good to me," said Luke. "How does the crowd behind us look? Think we can sneak in a little kiss before I get back to work?"

"Tell you what. Let's turn your hat just a little sideways, just like this. It nicely blocks Patty's view, and…" Luke leaned in for a quick, deep kiss.

"Call me later?" she asked.

"You bet," he replied with a wink.

Lorelai made for the door at double speed, while Patty and Jess stared after her.


	2. Roller Coaster Down, Roller Coaster Up

Roller Coaster Down, Roller Coaster Up

"Hi doll!" called Babette as Lorelai escaped the diner and headed towards the Dragonfly. "So, I heard there was some dirty dancin' last night at the wedding in the square."

"Oh, you mean Crazy Carrie! Yes, she made quite a scene. Squooshing her boobs up to her neck, then dancing with anything that moved." Lorelai tried to deflect attention from her own part in the evening.

"Crazy Carrie? Uh-uh sugar, that's the way Crazy Carrie behaves whenever she goes out. Nuthin' new about that. No, I'm talking about you and Luke! It was stupendous, Patty said, really hot stuff. You two were glowing with the heat of a thousand suns! So how was it?" Babette asked.

"Um, how was what?" Lorelai asked. "The wedding? It was beautiful, Liz looked beautiful, TJ loves tights, a really perfect wedding."

"Nah, honey, I mean you and Luke! Patty said you two finally got together, and it's about time. He's been waiting so long for you to notice him. We are so glad you finally did," Babette bubbled over with happiness.

"We? Which 'we' do you mean?" Lorelai asked.

"There's me and Patty, of course, and Kirk, and all the girls in our knitting group as well as Patty's yoga class. Also Andrew, Gypsy, most of the reenactors, " Lorelai interrupted her.

"OK Babette, I get it. How long have you been spying, er watching us?" Lorelai inquired.

"Well, we first noticed when you went into the diner the first time. Patty and I were having lunch and you blew in like a hurricane, pretty much just like you do today. You made Luke really mad, he yelled at you! We'd never seen him so mad. But the funny thing was, when you left, Luke got really quiet. He just looked out the window and watched you walk away. We'd never seen anything like it with him. That was the day we started the pool."

"The pool?" asked Lorelai.

"Yeah, the pool. We were betting when you two would have your first date. Every month that went by, more people joined. We finally cut it off at 500 people."

"Five hundred people are betting when Luke and I would have a first date?" Lorelai was stunned.

"It's not 500 people any more. Some of them died, like Fran, a few moved away. Taylor wanted his money back, so we gave it to him. We were glad to be rid of him, because he kept trying to raise the odds and complained about everything!" Babette said. "I don't know what we'll do if no one got the right date. Maybe we'll donate the money to puppies or something. I can go get the papers and find out if you want, I think they're at Patty's. Or did we leave them with Gypsy? No, no it could be that Taylor has them now…"

"Uh, Babette, I really need to get going. The test run for the Dragonfly is next week and there's a lot to be done. You're still coming, right? I've got your room all lined up." Lorelai was desperate to escape.

"OK, doll, I gotta run. Patty's waiting in the diner, she's gonna fill me in on what happened this morning," said Babette.

Lorelai started to walk away, then turned and said, "Make sure you ask Patty about her and Jess. They were quite cozy, watching us this morning." She raised her voice, adding, "Or maybe they were in cahoots, like all the rest of you!"

Babette just waved goodbye and headed towards the diner. After two steps she stopped and added, "Lorelai, I love you like you were my own daughter, so I'll give you this advice – Luke loves you like I've never seen anyone love before. Don't take it for granted, and make sure he knows how you feel about him as soon as you can. It'll mean the world to him. And to us – Luke is special to Stars Hollow and we all love him so much. We don't want to see him hurt."

Lorelai continued walking, but under her breath she whispered, "Me neither."

After a moment, Lorelai got her cell phone out and made a call. "Hi, do you have a minute?"

Luke could still see her out the window, walking away. "Yeah, it's pretty quiet here. What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you knew how much I enjoyed breakfast this morning, and a- actually last night too. It was wonderful. I'm so glad you invited me."

"Yeah?" his voice softened. "I'm glad you came."

"We waited way too long for this, and part of it's my fault. I didn't listen when people told me about … even Rory knew about it, somehow it was just me who had no clue." Lorelai spoke with a touch of regret in her voice.

Luke turned to face the wall, so no customer could see his expression. "Maybe you just weren't ready. I know how that goes. I kept trying, but it seemed to go nowhere. We'd have a moment, then it was gone, almost as if it had never existed. It wasn't until I read that book that I knew I needed to do more."

"That book? You mean Jess' self-help book?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, it was mine before I gave it to Jess. There was some asinine stuff in there, but I think the results were OK." Luke swallowed hard.

Lorelai, who had all but stopped walking, turned and looked at the diner. "Luke," she said.

He turned to see if he could still see her, and was surprised to see her looking directly at him. His heart skipped a beat.

"Asinine or not, the results have been spectacular. The heat of a thousand suns, according to Patty. Say, did you know about the pool?" Lorelai asked.

"The pool? I dunno, oh, oh wait, do they still have that damn pool going? They should have given up on that ages ago. This whole damn place should be surrounded by a wall. A padded wall! It'll keep them from hurting themselves!"

"Oh, I don't know, it's kind of cute, don't you think?"

"No! It's not cute, crazy townspeople taking bets on other people's love lives," he ranted.

"It's Stars Hollow, It's part of who we are, we live here, see our families grow up here, we live, we die here. Crazy or not, it's where I want to be, right here, with you. I'm not so sure we'd be as happy if we didn't have the crazy around us, loving us, looking out for us."

She continued, "Luke I'd better go, the work is not getting any less. All those Chinese people. Call me later?"

"You bet," he answered.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully for Luke. It didn't take more than one warning look at Patty and Babette to make them retreat. Tom's work crew from the Dragonfly called in their lunch order, and he and Caesar began preparing it.

As he worked back in the kitchen, Luke noticed the leftover pineapple flowers. Not expecting Lorelai for lunch today, Luke decorated a few donuts with the flowers, impulsively wrote a short note and packed it all into a small to-go box with Lorelai's name on it. He added the box to the growing stack of food for Tom's crew.

Mike, a crew member of Tom's construction team, came to pick up the order. Luke was in the back, so Caesar handed over the food and Mike went on his way.

When Luke noticed that the order was gone, he asked Caesar, "Did Mike pick up the whole order? I wanted to tell him there was something extra there."

"Yeah, he did, Luke. I handed everything off to him and he signed for it, just like you said to do," replied Caesar.

"OK, great, thanks, Caesar," answered Luke, who continued with lunch service.

At the Dragonfly, Mike was practically attacked by the crew as they relieved him of the food. Randomly opening boxes and bags, they each grabbed their own food and left all the rest open on the table.

"Cool, Donuts!" called Joe, and the donuts quickly disappeared.

After pulverizing their food, they guys headed out for a smoke or a walk, while Mike was left to do cleanup. He quickly shoved the trash into the bag and followed the others outside.

Lorelai, back in the kitchen eating with Sookie, was starting to wonder when Luke would call. Michel interrupted her thoughts.

"When are we going to Office Depot?" he asked. "I need to get the reception desk set up and ready to go before next Saturday's test run. There are also some printouts to pick up with schedules and the like."

"Let's go later today," said Lorelai. "We need to make sure the reservation system is up and running, plus we haven't installed the financial software yet. Sookie, can you keep Tom in line while Michel and I hunker down in the office?"

"Sure, I've got some problems here with the equipment, just little stuff, but it needs to be up and working before we do any serious cooking. Can Tom's team fix that?" Sookie asked.

"Actually, no, his team is only supposed to work on the building structure and major systems like water and heating. The kitchen equipment and the office equipment are all up to us. Do we need to call the supplier and have someone come in?" Lorelai thought for a moment. "Do you think Luke could help you with the equipment? I can call him and see if he can come by after work."

"Luke can probably help, it's mostly loose hoses and a slow drain, stuff like that," Sookie replied, adding, "Sooo, Luke. You can 'call Luke,' can you?" Sookie's eyes sparkled with laughter.

"What? I call Luke all the time, you know that! He's very, uh, neighborly, always willing to lend a helping hand," Lorelai said. "He's helped me out several times this week already, just simple stuff."

"And? How was it? 'Helping you out?' Is that what they're calling it nowadays?" Sookie began wiggling her butt and dancing around a little. "How about if you help me out a little over here, Luke? Now over here, yes that's right! Yes! Yes!"

"Sookie!" Lorelai almost shouted, while Michel looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"We've had one date, count it. One. Eins. Uno. No more, no less. There is nothing to talk dirty about," she continued, back in control of herself.

"But there will be, won't there? You see him every day, you could waltz if you wanted to every day, right? A thousand suns, hot stuff!" she giggled again.

"Oy with the thousand suns again. You guys need to get some new metaphors. How does this stuff get around, anyway," complained Lorelai.

"You are now involved with the unshaven lumberjack man?" asked Michel. "What on earth are you thinking, attaching yourself to this flannelized hirsute lout?"

"I wasn't thinking, it just happened. After we slept with the zucchini, I ran into him and he invited me to his sister's wedding. It was funny, and beautiful, and we laughed, not at all like we talk every day. Then we danced," said Lorelai.

Sookie interrupted, "Was that the waltz? Did you really have a special moment? Patty said that the waltz was incredible." She started clapping her hands a little, excited to hear more.

Lorelai spoke softly. "We waltzed."

Michel leaned in a little closer to hear better, his eyes growing bigger.

"It was strange at first, because it was Luke, you know, our Luke, the town Luke. Who knew he could waltz? As we turned, I looked at him, and suddenly he wasn't our Luke anymore. He was Luke, my Luke, and I could hardly breathe." She drifted off to that moment again.

Michel and Sookie let out a deep sigh, which brought Lorelai back to her senses.

"Now I'm seeing Luke. Michel, you need to find a way to get along with him, because not only is he an investor in the inn, but he's also going to be around here a lot more often, capiche? Let's get that software set up, and afterwards we'll buy the office supplies. You can have some gel pens if you're good."

"You do not have to treat me like a child," drawled Michel as he stood up and followed Lorelai out of the room. "I am an excellent manager and I do my job professionally. Do you think they have metallic gel pens? I need silver and gold ones, mine have gone dry. Also neon Post-Its."

"Sookie, Michel and I are off to get the office supplies. Do you need anything? Also, I did call the diner. Luke wasn't there but I left a message asking him to come by after work," chattered Lorelai as she pulled on her jacket. She called back to Michel, "Hurry up, Michel! It's getting late! We have to stop by the printers as well."

"Nah, I'm good, hon, as long as you keep the usual pens and paper in the supply closet, like we did back at the Independence Inn," said Sookie. "I'll be going home soon, too, to feed the family and put Davey to bed. I'll come back when he's asleep to get some more work done here in the kitchen."

"Sure, yeah, um, do you know if Luke called back? He was supposed to call this afternoon, but he didn't," Lorelai said wistfully.

"Oh sweetie, are you lovesick already? It's only been a couple of days, Lorelai, give the poor guy a chance. It's Luke, you know, you don't have to worry about him," consoled Sookie.

"I'm not worried about him, per se, he's just always so reliable that I didn't expect him to not call."

"You already think Luke might be reconsidering your relationship? That you're just a one-night stand for him?" Sookie looked disapprovingly at Lorelai. "Now I know you're crazy. If he doesn't call you, call him and find out what's going on."

"I can't be checking on him every ten seconds. He's going to think I'm stalking him, that he's involved with a crazy person. And it wasn't a one-night stand." Lorelai heard footsteps in the hallway. "Michel! Come on! Honestly you are such a slow poke, I'm not gonna let you have those gel pens! And you'll have to settle for plain yellow Post-Its."

Lorelai turned and stormed out of the kitchen, running headlong into Luke, banging her thigh on Bert the toolbox. "Ow! That hurt!" she said, hopping about in pain.

Luke stood still, watching Lorelai dance in agony, saying, "Not a one-night stand, and yes you are crazy."

He reached out to see if she had actually injured herself badly, when Sookie attacked him from the side, hugging him and screaming, "Luke! I'm so happy for you both! All those years of coffee, and seeing each other every day, but never quite making the last connection. Now it's happened and you are together at last! This is so great!" Sookie hugged Luke as he rolled his eyes and shared a look of understanding with Lorelai.

"This town really needs to find a useful occupation. Has everybody been sitting around all the time just watching us?" asked Lorelai, as the pain in her leg subsided. "I still can't get over the pool."

"Oh! The pool! I have to call Tillie and see if I won," Sookie reminded herself.

"Sookie! I'm your best friend! How could you join the pool?" Lorelai was shocked. Luke put Bert down on the floor and bent over to look at Lorelai's injury, which didn't seem so bad after all.

"Well, honey, it was a lot of money, and it had gone on so long. When Taylor put the money in the bank, the interest compounded, and it was really hard to resist," Sookie explained, slightly embarrassed.

"If you win, you have to take us out to dinner with your winnings. It's only fair, after all, we're the reason for the whole game," Lorelai finished, putting her hand on Luke's shoulder as she lifted her leg for inspection.

"Lorelai," said Michel as he came through the door, "I thought we were going to buy the office supplies." He saw Luke standing next to Lorelai. "Oh hello, Luke."

"You'll live," said Luke, running his hand down her thigh a little before he stood up straight. "Now what do you need me to do?"

"Sookie has some things in the kitchen. Work that out with her, OK? Michel and I need to run before the printer closes." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss, but moved away before he had a chance to respond. She and Michel hurried out of the room, Lorelai still limping a little.

"So much work," he muttered as he turned to Sookie, whose eyes danced with amusement.

After Sookie explained the problems, Luke began work. Shortly thereafter Tom came by to let Sookie know that the crew was finished for the day.

"Sookie, the only big thing outstanding are the doors, but they'll be here in a couple of days. Lorelai's been putting up Post-Its everywhere she wants to see something changed, but how's it going here in the kitchen?"

Tom looked over and saw Luke working underneath the sink.

"Hey Luke, whatcha doing there?" he asked.

"Nothing, just tightening up some joints." Luke pulled his head out from under the sink and sat up, placing his arms on his knees and looking at Tom.

"Sookie, if you got something wrong here, let me know and I'll fix it. No need to bring in amateurs," said Tom, with a raise of an eyebrow which revealed his subtle teasing.

"Well if professionals leave pipes this loose, then it's no wonder there are so many do-it-yourself books at the hardware store. The amateurs have to pick up the slack," retorted Luke with a smirk. He stood up. "Hey Tom, are these the original tiles?" he asked, pointing to the backsplash.

"It's not enough that you have to come in and mess with my work, but you're gonna kibitz as well?"

Luke put his open hands up in the air. "No, Tom, no kibitzing, I just wanted to say they looked great. Good job, man."

Tom growled, "Can't trust you as far as I can throw you. Stay away from my project, Luke."

"Sure, Tom, cleaning up this mess is way too big a job anyway. How'd you like that lunch today? Cooked by a professional, you know. Maybe I'll put something a little special in your lunch tomorrow, how does that sound?" Luke met Tom's teasing, blow for blow, while Sookie looked on mystified.

"Those fruity donuts with the flowers were tasty, the boys said," Tom replied, "But nothing was as good as the note you left in the box. We all enjoyed that. Took turns reading it out loud." Tom chuckled loud and headed for the door, adding "See you tomorrow. We'll have to work a little on Sunday, but not the whole day."

Sookie couldn't stifle her laughter as she watched Luke's face turn three shades of red. "Luke, take it easy, you know this town likes to tease," she said as she patted him on the shoulder. "So, what was in the note?"

"If you want one more thing in this kitchen fixed, you'll change the subject right now," he growled.

"OK, OK, I have to go home anyway. I'll be back after the babies are in bed," she said.

"Babies? When was there more than one?" Luke asked.

"You haven't seen Jackson at bedtime. Half an hour late and he throws a temper tantrum, that's why I'd better go now. See you in a couple of hours. Michel and Lorelai should be back in an hour or two. There's food and drink in the fridge if you're hungry."

Alone, Luke grabbed a bottle of water and sat down for a minute. Had it only been 24 hours since Liz' wedding? Wow, what a roller coaster.

After his break, Luke finished up the kitchen work and headed out into the inn proper. As he looked around, he noticed the Post-Its all over the place. Reading them, he started working on the things that he could, pulling down the note when he finished a task.

The stack of notes was getting rather thick when Luke heard voices downstairs. He recognized Michel's and Lorelai's voices, so he put down his tools and headed downstairs, carrying the stack of completed tasks.

The two were carrying large boxes of supplies, plus a milkshake apiece. They were nattering on about the various ice cream stores in Woodbridge, trying to choose the best one.

When she saw Luke, Lorelai stopped and said, "Hi," and placed her box on the reception desk outside the office. Michel carried his box into the office.

He replied, "Hey."

She smiled and added, "Glad you're still here. Did Sookie keep you busy?" She walked over to him and kissed him. He could taste the ice cream on her lips.

"Naw, her things were really easy. After I finished them, I went around and did a few more things." He stood up straighter and puffed out his chest as he handed her the stack of Post-Its.

"Faucet in Room 7, floorboard scuffed, molding coming loose,… and all these other things! You got so many things done. This is going to save us real money, thanks, Mr. Fixit," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I do have an investment to protect," he said, playing with her hair. "Anything else in the car from the office supply store?"

She nodded and they went out to the car. The Dragonfly was set a short distance away from Stars Hollow giving it the benefit of darker night skies and quieter necking opportunities.

After some time, the passionate necking was sated and they just stood together holding each other. Leaning against Luke's chest, Lorelai asked, "What did you put in the crew's lunch today? They ate like they always do, but then they got so rowdy that Tom had to yell at them to get back to work. They were laughing hard enough to bust a gut."

Luke appreciated the darkness because blushing only turns the cheeks red, they don't glow in the dark.

"Don't ever ask a group of men on a construction site what they're laughing about, that can only end in disaster, especially if it's a woman doing the asking." Luke made a mental note to avoid the construction crew for the next few days.

"God, are you two going at it again?" Sookie's voice surprised them, since they hadn't heard her car.

"Where did you come from?" asked Lorelai. "We didn't hear you at all."

"Jackson dropped me off not too far away, he wanted to check on the garden one more time before going to bed. Plus I wanted to sneak up on you two and catch you in flagrante delicious."

"Delicto, Sookie, and sorry to disappoint you, we aren't going to get caught doing anything embarrassing. This town has been giving us too much attention as it is," replied Lorelai. Luke stayed silent, his cheeks burning again.

"Let's get these last boxes inside. I'm hungry," he said, as nonchalantly as he could.

In the kitchen, Sookie looked at Luke suspiciously. "I think there was some flagrante going on out there, just look at Luke's face." Luke took the opportunity to put his head inside the refrigerator.

"No flagrante, Sookie. Let it go. What's for dinner? Michel's in the office, we should probably go get him," said Lorelai.

"I'll go," said Luke and dashed out the door, leaving Lorelai and Sookie staring at the door.

Once in the office, Luke sat down and asked Michel, "Hi Michel, how's it going? What's new with you?"

Michel looked up from the computer, narrowed his eyes suspiciously at this new, friendly Luke, and inquired, "What are you doing?"

"Doing? Nothing, just trying to get to know you better. I think we're going to see a bit more of each other, now that I'm an investor, and I want us to get along." Luke's voice was overly friendly.

"OK, good. I'm fine, thanks. Is Sookie fixing dinner?" Michel asked.

"Yes, it must be about ready, let's go eat." Luke answered.

"So Lorelai accepted, did she?" Michel asked, circling his prey. He stood up, casually adjusting the cuffs of his shirt, then his jacket, never once letting Luke out of his sight.

"Accepted what?" asked Luke, with a sinking feeling in his heart.

"Your invitation to dinner, Burger Boy. That was your note in the donut box, wasn't it?" Michel preened like a cat that had brought his mistress a dead mouse. "Come along, Burger Boy, let's eat."

Luke put head in his hands as Michel headed to the kitchen. Roller coaster down, roller coaster up, now a deep plunge into the circus that is Stars Hollow.

Lorelai entered the office, looking at Luke with his head in his hands. "You OK?" He nodded. "We OK?" He sighed, stood up and placed his arms on her shoulders.

"You remember Rory's 16th birthday, right? Do you remember what you said right before you invited me?" Luke asked.

What was it she'd said? Can't remember. Oh wait! She'd called him Burger Boy and told him to dance. Just as she was about to say that, she remembered his reply. "Will you marry me?" he'd said. Oh God, he's not that far along, is he? Or is he just trying to shut me up again?

"Lorelai? Are you still there?" Luke was starting to get concerned.

"Yes, yes, I'm with you. What was the question? Oh, I remember now, I said 'OK, Burger Boy, dance for me.'"

"Right, I kinda never forgot that moment. It was fun. Anyway, when I made you a little surprise this morning…"

Lorelai interrupted him. "You made a surprise for me? What is it?"

"I don't have it anymore. I put it in with the lunch order that Mike brought back to the Dragonfly. The box was labeled with your name and tied with a string. It should have been easy for them to give it to you, but apparently they didn't," Luke explained.

"Of course, as soon as lunch arrives, these guys become a pack of ravenous dogs. They grab everything edible in sight and inhale it. What did you send me?"

"Donuts, decorated with the rest of the pineapple flowers."

"Oh, how sweet! They must have been beautiful. Too bad the guys got to them first, they probably didn't even look at them, just saw donuts and ate." Lorelai gave Luke a big smile and caressed his jaw.

"They looked at them, all right, and they also saw the other thing I put in the box."

"What was it, brownies? I love your brownies."

"No, it was a note."

Lorelai gasped, realizing what Luke was saying. "A note? Tom's crew read your note to me?"

He nodded.

"What did the note say? Oh! It was from Burger Boy, wasn't it?" He nodded again.

"Luke! You've got to tell me what it said, so we can be prepared when the next Stars Hollow Gazette comes out. The townies are going to have a field day when they hear about this."

"It was a checklist."

"I'm hooked." Lorelai looked intently at Luke's face.

"It went like this:

Dancing? Check.

Donuts? Check.

Dinner? How about next Tuesday?

And I signed it…"

"Burger Boy," she said. He nodded, looking down at his shoes.

"Yes," she said.

"I'm dumb."

"No you're not. You're alliterative, sweet, romantic and funny. Definitely not dumb." She gave his shoulder a little shake.

Luke looked up at Lorelai and asked, "What did you mean when you said 'yes,' just now?"

"Yes to dinner next Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it," said Lorelai.

"Yeah? Me, too. You do see, though, that losing the note is the first sign that Date Number Two will be disappointing, right? I couldn't even give you a romantic invitation without embarrassing us."

"Actually, you're doing me a favor. Gilmore Girls can hardly get through a day without embarrassing themselves. It's sort of who we are, you know? I didn't have an embarrassing moment today yet, although the argument Michel and I had over Butter Rum ice cream came close. You've saved my day, made it just perfect."

They kissed until the door opened.

"My God, you two, you're just like rabbits. You've only been together a day. Give it a rest and come have some dinner," reprimanded Sookie. "You do realize that you never kissed until yesterday. I think you can get along without kissing for an hour or two."

"Nope," said Luke. "We've got a lot of kissing to catch up on."


	3. What the Heart Sees

Dean and Rory entered Rory's dorm. Standing outside her door, Dean touched her elbow.

"Man, it's good to get out. It's good to laugh. I laughed tonight. You're funny," he said.

"I can be funny. Why did you say it like I never am?" she asked.

"You - you're funny." He looked a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah? Well, this is my room."

"I know."

"Oh, right, you've been here before." Dean nodded, and Rory continued. "Well, thanks for saving me."

"Yeah, anytime."

Rory looked up at Dean uncertainly. "Dean, how is it that you can be out like this, here, with me, or with anyone, for that matter? Where does Lindsay think you are?"

"She thinks I'm out." He looked around, almost as if he expected someone to see him standing there with Rory.

"Out where, Dean?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. Look, when I'm back in Stars Hollow, we'll talk, OK? I want to know what's going on with you," Rory said. "You should go now."

Dean left. Rory went into her room, closed the door and sighed. "Another funky monkey might not be a bad idea, too bad it's all gone," she thought.

"What is going on with Dean and Lindsay," she wondered, "and what was I doing calling him for help. He's married, for goodness' sake."

There was a knock on her door. Still slightly bugged about the Dean question, she opened the door.

"You really need to tell me more about what's going on with…" she stopped. It wasn't Dean. Jess stood in front of her.

"Jess! What are you doing here?" Rory stood there, confused. She looked around to see if Dean were nearby. Jess looked with her, then followed her into the room.

"I need to talk to you." Jess looked desperate.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Given the opening, Jess stumbled over his words. "I don't know. I just wanted to see you, talk to you. I just..."

"You just what?"

"Rory, give me another chance. Let's go somewhere together. Right now."

"No! I can't do that. It's not what I want." She was angry and confused. Another chance? What was he thinking?

"It's what we both want. I know you," Jess pleaded.

"You don't get it. You don't know me now. Maybe a year ago I might have thought about it, but I've got a life here. This is important to me."

"But we wanted the same things. I want to be with you!"

"Now I want different things, not … not just you!"

Rory and Jess both stopped cold.

"Not just me?" he said.

Rory looked around the room, trying to find some way out of this conversation. She walked over to the stack of boxes near the window. She stood there, looking out the window, not noticing Jess as he came to her side.

"Not just me? Does this mean I get another chance?" He leaned in, his head close to hers, trying to look in her eyes, and they looked out the window at nothing.

"I don't know, maybe. Wait, yes I do know. One chance. You get one more chance, but it's not the chance you asked for." Rory stepped away from Jess as he reached for her. She went to the other side of the stack of boxes and put her hands on top of the upper box.

"Come back to Stars Hollow with me tomorrow. We'll talk. You have to get to know me again." Rory spoke with confidence.

"New York, let's go there instead. We'll work, we'll live together, and we'll be together! I can get to understand you in New York," Jess urged.

"Now see? That's exactly what I'm talking about. You want me to give up my life, which I love, to go live your life. I'm not willing to do that!" Her anger rose.

She calmed down. "My offer stands. Stars Hollow or nothing."

"Stars Hollow it is." Neither could quite believe that Jess said that.

"Yes?" she whispered.

"Yes, I'll come with you to Stars Hollow. We'll get to know each other again, find out where we are. But you have to promise me you'll consider New York."

"It's a long shot, Jess. I'm committed to school, I want my degree," Rory cautioned. "As long as you understand that, I'll consider New York."

"Deal." He moved close and sealed the deal with a kiss.

Rory felt Jess' passion, she missed his passion, it awakened feelings she'd had to repress since he left the last time. She drove the kiss deeper, reaching inside his leather jacket to hold him more tightly.

She broke away from him, saying, "Not now. Come back tomorrow and help me move back to Stars Hollow. The movers will take the rest of the furniture at ten, all that will be left are a few boxes."

"Just a few more minutes, just a little more." Jess reached out for Rory again. She pushed him towards the door.

"Tomorrow. We'll talk tomorrow."

When Luke awoke on Sunday morning, he was surprised to see Jess asleep in the other bed. "What the hell is he still doing here?" he wondered, as he got ready to open the diner for the pre-church crowd. He knew he'd eventually find out. Maybe he and Patty had something going on, he chuckled to himself.

A little later that morning, Lorelai came in to the diner for breakfast. A quick kiss was all they exchanged as she sat herself at a table in the center of the room.

As she ate her breakfast, Luke came by for a moment. "Back to the Dragonfly today?" he asked.

"Yes, Tom's coming this afternoon, and Michel and I are going to run through the check-in, check-out procedures. As soon as Rory gets home, though, I'm taking the day off and having some mother-daughter bonding time."

"Movies, junk food, girl talk?" Luke guessed.

"Bingo. Also laundry, Rory brings home the Mt. Kilimanjaro of laundry every time she comes. Hard to imagine where she keeps it in the dorm room. Wish we had some sherpas to help us with it."

"They're called porters, not sherpas," said Luke.

"What? Porter? Cole Porter? What does Cole Porter have to do with laundry?" asked Lorelai.

"Nothing."

"Then why are you talking about Cole Porter?" said Lorelai, getting bugged.

"I'm not talking about Cole Porter, you brought him up. What does swing music have to do with mountains in Africa anyway?"

"Luke, mountains in Africa? What are you talking about? Did Cole Porter go to Africa?"

"Forget Cole Porter. Mount Kilimanjaro is a mountain in Africa. African mountain guides are called porters, not sherpas."

"Look at you and your mountain knowledge, must come from the flannel plaid wearing. Did you know Cole Porter was a Yale graduate? By the way, he's more musical theater than swing music." added Lorelai.

"Yale? Look, you started with laundry, took us on a long journey up Kilimanjaro, past Broadway, and now we're back to Rory. How's she doing?" asked Luke.

Just as Luke uttered Rory's name, the curtain parted and Jess appeared in the diner, to Lorelai's consternation. He stood there, duffle bag slung across his shoulder.

"Jess! Hi! You're still here," said Lorelai. She whispered to Luke, "How does he appear at the very mention of Rory's name? Man, that kid has perfect timing." Luke gave her an exasperated look.

"Hi Lorelai. Luke, I'm ready to go, thanks for the hospitality," Jess said. Leaning over so only Luke could hear, he added, "I'm clearing out so you don't have any, um, hindrances." Jess looked over at Lorelai and smiled as Luke looked uncomfortable. Jess left.

"Anyway," said Luke, "that was Jess."

Lorelai echoed his words. "That was Jess."

A few hours later, Rory and Jess pulled up to the Crapshack in their cars. They carried Rory's boxes in, then went for a walk. First they stopped by Lane's to say hi, then they grabbed some sandwiches and headed over to the bridge for lunch.

"The best part about the university is being able to really dig deep into topics, and then discuss them with the professors and other students." Rory's excitement showed through.

"There's no substitute for the reading. I just do all the thinking myself and don't let anyone else try to make my conclusions for me," Jess said, putting his arm around Rory and pulling her in for a kiss. She put down her sandwich and kissed him back.

She moved back and continued. "These professors know so much about the classics, things I'll never find time to learn on my own. It is fantastic."

"The classics aren't nearly as exciting as the present! We live here and now! We have to write about the here and now! The classics are just a waste of time. You get stuck in old ideas and never get a chance for original thought," Jess insisted.

"What did you get from all that reading you did in earlier years, Jess? Reading the works of other authors brings up arguments that I never thought of. The classics have remained classics because they express the basic philosophies. When I read and understand them, I can make my own decisions. If I don't read them, then I will either miss these philosophies altogether, or I have to create every original thought on my own."

"You don't need the 'original philosophies!' They're just dead people who spouted off, not knowing what life is like for us today. The farthest back anyone has to read is the 1950's. The Beat Generation is all anyone needs if they want to have an influence on modern literature."

Rory stood up, brushed off the crumbs, and stomped away. "You are not listening to me! These studies are important! They make me a better thinker."

Jess followed her as she walked in the direction of the woods. As they reached the privacy of the trees, he stopped her and kissed her. She reached her hands up around his neck and pressed her body against his.  
>After a minute, Jess said, "I'm starting to get a good feeling about these philosophies."<p>

Rory gave a little chuckle in the middle of a kiss. Tentatively, she brought her hands down to reach around Jess' back, rubbing her fingers along his spine and over his shoulder blades, feeling his muscles. Jess began kissing her neck as his hands grasped her waist, closing over the small of her back.

Rory could feel the heat of his body, and her feelings threatened to take her over completely. She plunged her hands into his hair, pulling him closer, opening her mouth to his. Their tongues twisted around each other, intensifying their passion. She felt his lips on her mouth, working their way down to her neck, kissing her collarbone, ending up at the junction at the base of her neck. Panting, she broke away from his embrace.

"Jess, I need to get home. Mom will want to spend some time with me. We're going to be busy the whole evening."

"No. Stay." Jess' eyes were full of desire as he reached for her again.

"No, Jess, I really have to do this. It's late already," she said as she looked at her watch.

Tired, Lorelai walked into the house and called for Rory. No answer. Rory's things were piled in her room; the giant mound of laundry was out by the washer, waiting for an enterprising person to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Lorelai called for delivery, focusing on Rory's favorites, then headed upstairs to change into sweats and a t-shirt. She browsed through her closet, pondering which outfit to wear on her dinner date with Luke on Tuesday.

"Now I get a chance to wear a 'come and get it' outfit if I want. If I'm ready for Luke to come and get it." Her body responded so strongly that she had no doubt about it, the only question left open was her heart.

The front door clattered open and Rory called, "Mom!"

"Here sugarpuss! I'm upstairs."

Rory bounded up the stairs before Lorelai could come down. They hugged, squeezing and laughing until Lorelai lost her balance and fell first halfway on the bed, then she dragged Rory completely to the floor, laughing and giggling.

"So glad you're home!" cried Lorelai. "You've been to see Lane already? How's she doing?"

"She's great, mom. We talked for a while, then I took a long walk around Stars Hollow, seeing all the old sights. How was work?"

"Michel was Michel, but he did a really good job of setting up the reservation system, much better than the one we had at the Independence Inn. We assigned rooms for everyone coming to the test run, then moved a few people around to different rooms."

"Is Luke coming to the test run?" asked Rory.

"Yes, and I upgraded him to Room 12." Lorelai had a mischievous look on her face.

"Things are going well, then? C'mon, spill. I want to know everything but the stuff I don't want to know, and you know what it is I don't want to know." Rory cocked her head to one side and smiled at her mother.

"Our second date is next Tuesday; he's taking me out to dinner. I can't decide what to wear. So far it's either this black dress, or anything else." She held up a form-fitting black dress with a choker collar and deep shoulder cut-outs.

"Mom, that was the dress that everyone complimented you on at Grandma's last time, wasn't it?"

"Yes, and it's because of those compliments that I'm thinking of it for Tuesday."

"Is the restaurant anywhere near an emergency room? 'Cause you're going to give poor Luke a heart attack when he realizes you wore that dress for him. Or are you just trying to create an opportunity for mouth to mouth?"

"No need to create opportunities, Luke is a very fast learner."

"Ewww, getting too close for comfort, especially up here in your bedroom. Downstairs now!"

They gathered plates and movies, and had just settled onto the sofa when the food arrived.

As they dished up the food on their plates, Rory asked, "Mom, do you remember that I said I would talk to you when I think I'm getting ready to, you know, be with someone for the first time?"

"Yes, of course. Is it getting close? Are you in a relationship with someone?" Lorelai got very serious, trying to give Rory both space to talk and make her feel comfortable.

"I – I think it's getting close. The relationship is just starting, but the feelings are so strong, I don't know how to decide. I'm pretty sure I want to, but I don't know how to choose when. Does that make sense?" Rory leaned back on the sofa, playing with her food.

"Yes, it makes sense. There are a million thoughts flying through your mind at a time like this, and your body is telling you 'Go baby go' but your brain is processing the ramifications, and your heart, well it's wherever your heart is at the moment."

"How do you understand what your heart is saying? I can't decide, it feels like my heart is all over the place," said Rory, feeling a little dejected.

"You will understand your heart at certain moments when you look into his eyes, but that's dangerous, because it's easy to think that the physical desire is your heart speaking. I can only say that one day, you'll look into someone's eyes and understand that."

"What if I'm wrong?" Rory asked.

"You will be wrong sometimes, you just have to stay true to yourself. Your first love is not going to be your last love in most cases, but it's still worth letting your first experience be one with someone you do love."

"But what do I do if I'm wrong?" repeated Rory.

"Don't make him suffer. I did that with Max, and it hurt both of us a lot. He didn't deserve that pain. After that, it's a question of mentally filing away the good memories and the things you learn, then letting go of the rest."

"Mom."

"What, dear heart?"

"Any movie but Hardbodies, OK? I don't want to have that image in my mind as I decide."

Some time later, Lorelai started to yawn. Rory said, "I'm still on my finals schedule, Mom, I think I'm going to go out and see who's up. Lane said something about getting together tonight, so I'll see if it's possible."

"OK, sugar, I'm going to get some sleep. Tomorrow's another long day, and there's still so much work to do. I'm headed to bed," Lorelai said.

"'Night Mom, say hi to Luke for me," Rory said as she left.

Lorelai headed upstairs, carrying the phone as she dialed Luke's number.

"Hi," she said when he answered.

"Hi back," replied Luke.

"You're getting ready for bed?" she asked.

"Just got under the covers. How was your evening?"

"Good, we had lots of time to talk. My baby's grown up, and is maturing faster than I could have imagined, Luke." Lorelai wandered over to the window and looked out at the street. A few people were out walking in the dark.

"Hmm," she said, "Jess left today, didn't he?"

"You were there when he said goodbye, and he took his bag. Haven't heard from him since." Luke yawned and stretched lazily.

"Weird, I could have sworn that I saw him just now. He must have a doppelganger roaming the streets of Stars Hollow."

"Yeah, not likely. If Jimmy had any more kids, they sure wouldn't be living in Stars Hollow. Are you going to bed?" Luke asked.

"Yes, I'm always extra tired the day Rory comes home. I can relax, and I sleep better when she's here. Don't know what I'm going to do when she moves out for her job."

"We'll figure it out when the time comes. She's just 19, there's plenty of time."

Luke's pragmatic reassurances almost always helped Lorelai calm down, even before they dated. It helped now, too, but she expressed a further concern.

"Tonight it occurred to me for the first time that she might have a serious boyfriend before she graduates. Who knows what she'll do then, maybe she won't even come home for the summers."

"Wait until it happens. Does she have a boyfriend at the moment?" His voice was gentle and full of concern for Lorelai.

"Maybe, she talked like she might be getting involved, but she hasn't given me a name or introduced me yet. She hardly dated at all this year."

"Then there's time. Trust her and continue to be there for her. I know you can do this. Why don't you go to bed and see what she has to say tomorrow?"

"I will," replied Lorelai. "It's good to have you to talk to about these things. I like dating you and being friends at the same time. No need for me to give you a big backstory or to worry about what you might think of me dumping all my angst on you."

Luke's voice was gruff with emotion as he answered, "You could have called me before, you know, especially about Rory. You know how I feel about her, a- about you both."

Lorelai's heart jumped at Luke's words, even though she knew they had been true for a very long time. "Looks like all it takes to crack your gruff exterior is to call you late at night, my friend. Maybe I should tell Taylor to call you at midnight the next time he wants you to do something."

Luke picked up that Lorelai had moved the conversation to a lighter level. "You do that and I'll change my number, and not even you will get it. You'll just have to wait for me to call. Anything else tonight?" Sleep threatened to take over.

"I did want to know how fancy a restaurant we're going to on Tuesday, so I can choose my outfit. I'd hate for my outfit to be the reason Date Number 2 is a disappointment."

"Here's where it's easier for women than for men. A restaurant might require a tie, or a jacket, or a suit, while all you have to do is throw on any old black dress, a pair of heels and you're ready for any place except a clambake. I mean honestly, the suit exists to make it easy for men to decide what to wear yet still be prepared for everything. It works great in a business situation, but in a social situation, that's the realm of women, setting rules for the men on behavior, clothing, everything!"

"Let the rant, go, Luke, I just wanted to know for myself. Any little old black dress will do? I can handle that. Thanks for the input, you can go to sleep now, OK?"

"OK, goodnight, Lorelai. See you tomorrow sometime maybe?"

"Tomorrow sometime definitely. Goodnight, Luke."

After she hung up the phone and got ready for bed, Lorelai's thoughts drifted back to the discussion with Rory. Where was her heart with Luke? Was she ready for more? What would her heart see the next time she looked into his eyes? The special friends relationship they'd had before had merged seamlessly with this deeper connection so fast that Lorelai couldn't even imagine a time without her Luke.


	4. 2nd Date

2nd date

Lorelai came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee and plopped down on the sofa next to Rory, who was flipping channels, looking for something to watch on TV.

"What do you have planned while Luke and I are out tonight?" she asked.

"Going to Lane's for dinner, then hanging out. We might head out to a club or something if we can think of someplace to go." Rory sounded calm, but she was excited about the evening. Not only would Lane be there, but also Zach, Brian and Jess.

"Are you excited about tonight? Rory asked. Before Lorelai could answer, the phone rang.

Rory, who had been holding the phone, answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Rory, this is Luke. Can I talk to you for a second?"

Rory looked over at Lorelai and mouthed the word "Luke." Lorelai took the phone out of Rory's hand and answered, "Hi there, can't wait to talk to me?"

"Lorelai, I was talking to Rory. Can you put her back on?"

"Well, OK! What a way to be romantic. Are you putting Date Number 2 in jeopardy already?" she huffed as she handed the phone back to Rory.

"She was too quick for me, Luke, she took the phone right out of my hand."

Luke spoke, then Rory laughed. "Are you laughing at me? That's mean!" Lorelai said.

"Hush, Mom, we're trying to talk here." Rory answered Luke, saying, "Oh, I see. Sure that sounds good. Shouldn't be a problem."

Lorelai, frustrated, started to grab for the phone again, but Rory pushed her away. "Go away, Mom, this doesn't involve you!" she scolded.

"You guys are planning a surprise, aren't you?" Lorelai grinned from ear to ear.

Rory listened to Luke a moment longer, then said to Lorelai, "Luke says to go get ready to go. He doesn't want to sit around here all evening waiting for you to primp."

"Did he really use the word 'primp'?" she chuckled, reaching for the phone again. Rory got up and danced out of her way.

"Sorry, Luke, there's an annoying puppy trying to get my attention. " To Lorelai, she said, "Go away! Naughty puppy! I'll swat you with a newspaper!" Lorelai giggled.

"Anyway, Luke, I think I can manage that. No, no problem if you come over half an hour earlier. I'm sure Mom will be out of our way by that time." Rory gave her mother a warning stare, then listened to Luke a bit longer.

"No, no, it's no bother. You're very welcome. See you in a few!" Rory hung up.

"What's that all about?" pressed Lorelai.

"None of your business, it's between me and Luke. Go get dressed, how long do you think he'll wait if he knows you've just been messing around instead of getting ready?"

Lorelai stomped her foot in pretend anger and went upstairs to finish getting ready.

Half an hour before the appointed start of the date, Luke knocked on the door. Rory let him in and they seated themselves on the sofa.

"Hey, Rory. Here's my new cell phone. I'm having the damnedest time figuring out how to set up the phone list."

"OK, let's take a look. It's not so much different from my phone," Rory said.

"Lu-uke! Couldn't wait, could you? That's so sweet," called Lorelai from upstairs.

"Don't dawdle; I don't want to be late." Luke grumped loudly.

"Whatcha doing down there? Planning something? Should I keep my eyes closed when I come downstairs?" She was relentless.

"The work. So much work," Luke muttered so only Rory could hear. She looked at him and smiled.

"You volunteered for it, you know," she teased quietly. "Look, here's how it goes. Which number first?"

"How about here?" Luke asked, smiling.

"OK, here we enter the name, C-r-a-p-s-h-a-c-k, then there the number and save. Now you try it," she coached.

"The diner, ok, then the number, damn, how do you delete?" he asked.

"That button there. You know you can also put nicknames instead of real names, and it saves time if you just have the person call you and you save their number. Here, let me get Mom's phone and show you."

Rory took her mother's cell phone and dialed Luke's number as he read it off to her. His phone rang and Lorelai, thinking it was her phone, came running to the landing. "Is that for me?"

"No, Mom, it's Luke's new cell. We're just setting up the dialing directory. What name shall we use for you?"

"Main squeeze," said Lorelai. Luke: "No way."

"Hot Plates!" "No!" Luke was getting irritated.

"Sugarpuss!" "How about Number 2 Girlfriend?"

"Feeling the love up here, feeling the love. How about Junie?"

"You mean Junie of Junie and Momo?" he laughed, remembering her reaction to that rant. Rory chuckled, too. "A circus couple. I can deal with that."

"Rory, please program Luke's cell on my phone too. Let's call him Schnickelfritz."

"Mom, no! Be kind." Rory shook her head and rolled her eyes in sympathy with Luke.

Luke stood up and went over to the stairs. "You know, Lorelai, it's getting hard to be romantic when you act like this," said Luke, running his hand through his hair in an exasperated manner. "Are you trying to make this date a disappointment?" He went back to the sofa and sat in a relaxed position, knowing he'd have to wait a few more minutes.

"At least give me Momo!" she called. Luke nodded yes.

"Deal!" called Rory.

Rory and Luke continued updating the phone directory, adding her number, the Dragonfly and more. The two of them were concentrating so hard they didn't notice Lorelai coming down the stairs. Her killer black dress was hidden under a shot-silk pink coat, and she was beautiful. For once her hair was curling perfectly, just long enough yet not too long. Her nails were beautifully and elegantly manicured, her clutch purse was just big enough to handle the few essentials one might need on a second date.

When she reached the lower landing, she turned and posed, but Luke didn't notice. His head was bent down as he and Rory exchanged more phone numbers, so Lorelai began posing, trying to get his attention.

Rory glanced up, saw her, looked at Luke and smiled, then winked at Lorelai. Giving up, Lorelai came quietly downstairs and stood just behind him. Rory walked past her, saying softly, "No need to find an emergency room, apparently his immune system's pretty strong." As Rory picked up her drink and went back to sit beside Luke, Lorelai gave her daughter an icy look.

Eventually Lorelai's perfume drifted Luke's way. He sniffed, looked up at Rory, and then turned around.

Pleasantly surprised, he stood and greeted her with a small kiss and put his arm around her waist. "You look nice," he said. With pride, he showed her his new phone and started to explain the details that Rory had taught him.

Lorelai's eyes glazed over quickly after she verified that her number had been entered correctly.

Letting him go on for another minute, she finally bent down, looked him in the eye, waved at him to get his attention, and asked, "Is Momo off his meds?"

Rory saw the look on Luke's face as it dawned on him that Lorelai was not quite as thrilled with his phone as he was. She laughed while Lorelai tried to give him a reprimanding, school-marmish look, but failed. Rory laughed even harder at Lorelai's frustrated expression.

Sheepishly, Luke closed the phone and said, "Beautiful. You look fantastic. Are you ready to go?"

"Where are you going?" asked Rory, to which Luke replied, "Persephone's on the outskirts of Hartford. It's a great seafood restaurant."

Lorelai commented, "It is a nice place, very good choice, blah blah, have a nice evening. Let's go, I'm getting hungry." She tugged on his jacket to lead him to the door. Luke turned and winked at Rory as they left, saying to Lorelai, "Are you really sure you're not trying to sabotage this date?"

* * *

><p>They parked at Persephone's in the semi-darkness, talking so animatedly that they stayed in the truck for a minute or two longer.<p>

As Luke opened Lorelai's door, he finished his story, saying, "…and there I was, flat on my ass in the middle of the river, with a broken fishing rod."

Lorelai laughed, asking, "Did you catch anything?

"Only the one that swam into my waders. Actually tasted pretty good."

Lorelai stopped and took in the beauty of the night and the restaurant. Persephone's was situated in an old mansion with a large portico. Twinkle lights decorated the columns and large potted plants flanked small settees and gliders. Tiny tables in front of the settees held flickering candles. The front garden had more twinkle lights in the lower trees and strategically placed garden candle lanterns. Leaded glass windows revealed the golden lights inside, and shadowy figures moving back and forth.

They climbed the stairs slowly, enjoying the moment, Luke's hand at the small of Lorelai's back. She barely leaned an elbow against his torso as her heels unsteadily negotiated the broad steps. At the top of the stairs, she walked the length of the portico, her fingertips touching his, pulling him inevitably along behind her. At the far end, in a dark corner, she took his tie, pulled him back against the building and gave him a kiss, both tender and tingly at the same time.

"I thought you were hungry," he murmured as he held his face close to hers, feeling her breath, tempted to abandon dinner altogether.

"There's more than one kind of hunger," she answered in a husky voice, "but I really do need food now."

They reluctantly went in the front door, where they were greeted by the maître d'hôtel and shown to the coat check. Lorelai placed her clutch on a nearby occasional table and unbuttoned her coat.

As Luke slid the coat off her bare shoulders, he saw first the nearly-open back of the very tight dress. When she turned around he was struck by the beauty of the black fabric circling her neck, leaving a large keyhole opening between her clavicle and her breasts. He involuntarily drew a breath.

"Oh, god, my immune system can't handle this at all. Are you sure you don't have that emergency room number?" he whispered in her ear. Lorelai just turned her head and smiled at him, feeling slightly light-headed, either from his scent or the lack of food, she couldn't tell. Luke gripped her waist tighter as her hair brushed against his cheek.

The maître d'hôtel showed them the front of the restaurant, explaining that they had designed the dining space to take advantage of the original architecture of the building. There was one relatively large dining room, used mostly for business dinners. The rest of the rooms were decorated in antiques of the period, with only the most necessary of modern conveniences included. There were just a few tables in each of the smaller rooms.

Their table was situated just inside the door of a small parlor, large enough for just three parties of two. A large potted palm in the center of the room provided privacy for each couple. Lorelai was seated on an angled loveseat, her back to the quiet discreet hallway. Luke took the other half of the loveseat, their elbows touching, knees within just the right distance for contact, but with enough room for Luke to stretch his legs out when needed.

"A Kir Royale, perhaps, to start?" asked the maître d'hôtel, "It's our signature aperitif."

"Yes, I'd love one," said Lorelai. "Luke, would you like one, or perhaps something without champagne?"

"Special occasion, of course a Kir is the right thing. Two, please," he requested.

The maître d said, "Of course. Your server will be here shortly to discuss your dining options." He paused, then continued, "If I could ask, are you celebrating a special occasion, perhaps an anniversary? You seem so connected and so happy, something extraordinary must be happening."

"It is extraordinary," Lorelai replied, "it's our second date." She beamed at Luke, taking his hand in hers.

"Ah, my apologies, I would have thought you'd been together much longer. Please enjoy your dinner, and don't hesitate to ask if there's anything you need or want."

"See, Momo, we're just an old married couple out for our 88th wedding anniversary. We're lucky we aren't using walkers and drooling."

"Momo is very happy you've stuck with him so long."

"Really happy Momo, or are you back on your meds?" she laughed.

The cocktails arrived quickly, the crème de cassis laying perfectly at the bottom of the champagne flute, with the champagne bubbling over it, a purple and golden rainbow. Raspberries floated on top, and a porcelain dish of frosted raspberries was served alongside the drinks.

Lorelai looked into Luke's eyes and let her heart tell her what it saw there. It saw eight years of growth, learning, fighting, laughing, loving, and finally acknowledging the love that lay deeper still.

He watched, fascinated, as these emotions changed the color of her eyes, one moment darkening, another like the flash from a camera.

"To you, Luke," Lorelai said, picking up her glass and leaning in close to him. "To finally understanding what my heart has been saying for so many years, that our connection is so primeval, so true, it's unbreakable. I love you, that's a given. That I'm in love with you, openly and completely, is the fulfillment of a dream I never admitted to myself before now."

These words, words Luke had hoped to hear one day, set off fireworks in his head, destroying years of wanting and waiting, crumbling walls and barriers around his heart.

"Lorelai, I love you with all my heart."

They toasted, then kissed. Lorelai fed Luke a raspberry, then kissed the juice from his lips. After a discreet interval, the waiter came to explain the specials, fresh from the ocean today. With the exception of the main course, which was to be served with wine, Lorelai ordered a martini, and Luke requested a beer. The waiter offered a pilsner from the Czech Republic, which turned out to be delicious.

The amuse bouche consisting of a miniature lobster bisque, a tiny sea scallop on a bed of baby arugula, and a puff topped by caviar, followed the aperitif.

Slowly the atmosphere returned to a new normal. Love, once spoken, could not be unheard, and changed everything. Except hunger. Lorelai and Luke both ate with gusto, first the salad, then the dorade, which the maître d filleted with two spoons.

"We haven't worked through the list yet, Luke." Lorelai spoke while swallowing the last morsel of fish.

"List? What list?"

"The second date list of appropriate topics and behaviors. Don't you think we should make sure we're doing this right?"

"What do you think I think?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Point taken. How's your dinner?"

"Great, it tastes like fish I've caught before on my fishing trips," Luke answered. "Beautiful presentation, though. Not too many Kir Royales out at the lake."

"Does it taste like the fish you caught in your waders?" laughed Lorelai. "Ooh dirty" she said before Luke had a chance to call her on it.

"Ha ha. Do you want some of these potatoes?"

"I get it, that was a conversation-killing question. Let me try again." She took more potatoes out of the serving dish, took a bite, then said, "Tell me something about yourself that you think I don't know."

Folding his napkin and putting his fork down, Luke regarded her carefully. "I drink espresso, but not coffee."

"Good, I'll buy an espresso machine. What do you do when you're not catering to my every whim?" She teased this time, hoping for a rise out of him.

"You think there's energy left over after you've drained the life out of me?" he asked. "Actually, when I get the chance, I go to Sniffy's Tavern. Buddy and Maisie, friends of my parents, run the place. It's a place where I don't have to run the show, like at the diner, or have to follow your bidding, like at your house."

Lorelai had the good grace to feel guilty about using Luke too often and too much. "Sorry, I did at least try to entertain you. From now on, that will change. You can look forward to the Crapshack as a home away from home, and I'll take care of you for a change." She edged closer, touching his knee with her own.

Luke put his arm around her waist, pulling her to him and played with a stray curl. "That I'll enjoy, but I might enjoy the reverse even more, depending on the activity." He placed tiny kisses on her temple, moving down along her jaw until he reached her neck. Lorelai moaned the softest of moans. She lifted his chin and kissed him gently on the lips, opening her mouth just enough to press the tip of her tongue to his lips, which parted immediately and took her tongue even deeper.

They drifted back to reality when the server made a subtle noise, then unobtrusively cleared the table. He topped off the wine in their glasses, emptying the bottle, and said, "The maître d will bring the cheese selection by in a moment. Can I get you anything else?"

"No, we're fine," said Lorelai, "We'll probably have espresso with dessert, but we'll decide later."

Before the maître d arrived, Luke's pocket buzzed. "I didn't put it on vibrate," he said. "Hmm, Rory must have done that. Good kid. Did I ever tell you you have a good kid?" he asked, looking at her smilingly before he answered the call.

"Caesar? What's up? Wait just a second, I can't stand to use this thing in here. Let me go out to the porch and I'll call you right back." He stood up, saying, "It's the rule in my diner, the least I can do is keep it here as well." He kissed her on the top of her head and she made him pull his hand out of her fingertips before she allowed him to leave. "Don't forget where we left off," he said, putting his finger on her lips.

She turned and looked out the door after him. Now, that's a fine figure of a man, she thought to herself. A moment later, she could see him walking on the porch. He looked through the leaded glass window and smiled, then he headed toward the end of the porch.

Lorelai settled back in her chair, glad to have the glass of wine for company.

"Lorelai?" Her skin prickled when she heard that voice.

Jason had been walking by when he recognized Lorelai. He charged into the room and stood before her with an eager look on his face.

"This is just great! I was here for a business dinner, trying to salvage what's left of my career, and here you are, waiting for me. It must be a sign. Lorelai, we can't let this go. I can't let you walk out of my life, just like that," said Jason pleadingly. He spoke fast, as if he were constantly afraid someone would interrupt him.

"Jason! What are you doing here? What are you saying?" asked Lorelai, confused.

"We belong together, Lorelai, you know that. We are so great together. I gave you a key!"

Jason's logic was absurd, she thought. The key had nothing to do with anything.

"Jason, listen. We broke up. We are not together. I do not want to get back together with you!"

"You can't mean that Lorelai! Everything was so good between us!"

"Everything was just OK between us, and then you sued my family. I won't be with anyone who sues my family. Period."

Jason stopped talking, looked around then asked, "Are you on a date?"

"Yes, now it's time for you to go." Lorelai was getting angry.

"I want just one more chance, Lorelai, just one more! The guy who left you sitting here alone is crazy. Let me take you home. Or better yet, my place."

"Or maybe he's just a responsible person, taking care of business," she countered angrily. She stood up, towering over him in her high heels. "I'm leaving. My date's outside, don't follow me."

As she turned to go, a small group of noisy laughing women came by, clearly tipsy. Lorelai got a sinking feeling in her stomach when she recognized one woman's auburn hair. Emily.

"Lorelai! What are you doing here?" Emily had returned and was standing in front of her, swaying back and forth slightly.

She looked over at Jason, not recognizing him. "Are you on a date, Lorelai?" she asked. "With this guy?"

"Yes, Mom, but not with Jason. He was just leaving."

Jason stood stock still when Emily turned her attention to him. "Do I know you? You look like a garden troll. What's your name? Dopey?" She laughed overly loud.

Emily's friends had missed her, came back and took her with them, laughing like only women who have nothing to lose can laugh. "Emily, come on! We're going to the cigar room to celebrate your separation from Richard."

Lorelai stood there, stunned. Her parents had separated. Unbelievable.

Luke, finishing his call, walked past the window again, where he saw Lorelai with Jason. His shock was palpable, and he practically ran the few steps from the door to Lorelai's side.

Luke put his arm around Lorelai's waist, pulling her tightly to his side. "Lorelai, are you alright? Lorelai?"

No answer from her, but Jason jumped into the silence. "Who are you? What are you doing with my girlfriend?" Sometimes you have to gamble it all on a high-risk bet, he decided.

Luke moved between Jason and Lorelai. "Go now," he growled.

Jason still stood there. "Hey, wait a second, aren't you Duke? Lorelai, you're dating Duke? Seriously?"

Luke's expression showed Jason that he was very serious, and finally Jason got the message. "Alright, alright, I'm gone!" he said as he exited hastily.

Luke took Lorelai in his arms and held her, caressing her hair as she leaned against him, glassy-eyed. "Oh Luke, that was unbelievable. You will never believe what I just saw."

After a long minute, she calmed down enough to stand on her own, but she kept her hands on Luke's arms for comfort.

"Come sit down, you'll feel better in a minute," Luke said. He guided Lorelai to her seat just as her mother came back into the room.

* * *

><p>Jess arrived not long after Luke and Lorelai had gone, and he and Rory headed over to Lane's. Even after having visited her best friend several times in this shabby little apartment, Rory was still slightly dismayed at her friend's living circumstances. Plumbing that didn't work well, crowded in with her bandmates, Lane was both happy and uncomfortable.<p>

Lane was also feeling awkward with Jess around. They had never hung around when he was Rory's boyfriend during high school, and realistically she hardly knew him. She did know he could be a mood-killer in a small group if he were in a snit.

This was a different Jess tonight, though. He held onto Rory the whole evening, conversing about music with Lane and Zach, generally being rather pleasant for Jess.

"We have another party gig near Woodbridge in two weeks," said Lane. "Now that we've learned our lesson from Kyle's party that you guys attended, things are better prepared. It should go off without a hitch."

"Have you learned a lot of new songs?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, man. We are so ready for this gig," said Zach. "It took us forever to get the set list together, with just the right mix of originals and covers. Our style is really starting to gel, too."

"What's going on with you guys?" Lane asked, opening a bag of chips, which was promptly snatched away by Brian and Zach.

"I'm writing a lot," said Jess. "There's no better way to get better at writing. Better at better? You'd think I had a vocabulary of about 20 words when I put sentences together like that." He made a wry face at his own joke.

Rory added, "and I'm writing just as much, except it's all for course papers and the Yale newspaper. Totally different kind of writing from Jess' because he has to really dig deep to find the fiction muse."

"Dude, the pizza's taking too long, I'm starving!" complained Zach.

Rory answered Lane's question by describing how they met up again on the last night of finals. Squeezing his hand, she said, "It's really nice to be together again."

Slightly embarrassed, Jess wandered off with Zach and Brian to drink some beer. His knowledge of the latest music trends in New York caught their attention, and they got involved in Brian's disc collection.

Even though Lane would have preferred to be duking it out with the guys over the best bands on Mojo's recent releases list, her friend was more important. They moved over to a corner of the room and Lane asked, "So what really happened? Jess came to Yale? What did he want?"

"He wanted to run away with me to New York," answered Rory. "We talked for a while and he began to understand how important school is to me, and the next thing you know, we're back together again."

"How was the sex?" Lane was tense, waiting to hear about Rory's experiences.

"No sex. At least not yet. This is all pretty new, you remember how hurt I was when he left without saying goodbye? We've made up about that."

"Well are you going to? It's not like you're in high school any more, and I remember the way you talked about his kisses. How are you going to resist. Heck, why should you resist, if you're ready. I mean it's JESS." Lane waxed romantic.

Pausing to grab the chips back from the boys, she continued. "What does Lorelai think?" Lane inquired, munching on a chip.

"She only remembers that he left without saying goodbye, and she had to pick up the pieces. I haven't exactly had time to tell her yet. Jess and I were busy all day, and Mom is working like a demon to get the inn ready for the test run. Also, she and Luke have gotten really involved. I'm happy for her, but it's so intense and so quick."

"Ha ha, now who sounds like the mom?" Lane teased. "You guys used to do that role reversal back in high school, even a little in middle school. So cute. "

Lane continued. "Don't worry about intense, Luke is the same as Lorelai when it comes to intensity. You can't expect them to not be all in from the start. You heard about their dance at the Renaissance wedding, right? Patty was wild about the sparks Lorelai and Luke were giving off."

"Oh, yeah, I've heard it about a million times. If I haven't been calming Mom down so she could get ready for their next date, I've had to field questions from half of Stars Hollow, wanting to know the scoop. Just walking down the street today was a nightmare."

The guys were laughing over some lame joke Jess had told, so Lane and Rory wandered over to join in on the fun. Rory put her arm around Jess' waist and kissed him just below his ear, feeling very happy.

* * *

><p>"Lorelai! Good, you're still there. Come back with us broads – we're going to have a cigar. In the cigar room. We chased all the men out." Being a 'broad' had apparently become important to Emily, thought Lorelai. "And brandy. Brandy and a cigar."<p>

Luke was still standing beside Lorelai, trying to get her to sit. She sank down in her chair and looked up at her mother. He then stared at Emily, surprised at her behavior.

"Seriously, Lorelai, it will be fun. My friends and I, we decided to start a first wives' club. We're having our inaugural meeting tonight, and we're celebrating. Brandy and cigars, and no men."

Emily turned her head and finally noticed Luke. "Wait. Did you just grow? When I was here a little while ago, you were shorter. And you looked like a troll."

"You don't look like a troll now." Emily turned to Lorelai again. "Are you on a date?" she asked. A smile slowly spread across Luke's face. Drunk Emily was fun.

"Mom, you just asked me that question, and I said yes, I'm on a date, but not with Jason, with Luke."

Emily reacted at Jason's name, not hearing the rest of what Lorelai said.

"Jason? Jason was here? That little weasel. Never liked him. Where is he now, I'll tell him." Emily looked around the room. Luke and Lorelai were both relieved that the only other couple in the room with them had left a long time ago.

"OK, you." Emily turned to Luke. "You look nice, very nice."

She weaved a little and Luke put his arm out to steady her. "Oh, and strong too. Meaty, like a Porterhouse steak."

Lorelai stifled a giggle, remembering the last time Emily used a Porterhouse steak reference for Luke – Rory's birthday party. Luke knitted his eyebrows together, trying to figure out an appropriate response. Lorelai just waved her hand at him indicating he shouldn't even try.

Emily looked Luke over again, liking what she saw. She turned to Lorelai and asked, "Are you on a date?"

Lorelai sighed. "Yes, Mom." Luke stifled a laugh.

"With Porter here? That's a nice name, Porter. And such a gentleman, too. Strong, very strong." She put her hand on Luke's lower arm to steady herself. Luke made big eyes at Lorelai, pleading for help.

Lorelai eyed him defiantly back, deciding to let it play out Emily's way.

"Yes, Mom, I'm out with Porter. You know his family, I think, don't you? The Housesteaks? I think his mother is in the DAR over in Providence." Luke gave her a look of disbelief.

"Oh, of course! The Providence Hausstakes! How could I have forgotten? You will forgive me, won't you, Porter?" She smiled sweetly at him.

Luke had to stifle laughter again as he nodded. "Anytime, Emily. My pleasure."

"Mom, don't you need to get back to your First Wives' club? Your friends must be missing you," said Lorelai, trying to get her mother to move along.

"Oh! Bitsy must come and meet you, Porter. She will love meeting you. I'll go get her." Emily exited and headed back toward the cigar room.

"Quick quick, sit down, before she returns! You'll be safer if you're sitting." Lorelai was half in tears from laughter.

"Why didn't you rescue me? That made me feel very uncomfortable," he said, laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

"Don't worry, Luke, she'll only remember Porter tomorrow."

"What was that whole Porterhouse steak thing about anyway?"

"I'll give you the details later, but here's a teaser – Rory's 16th birthday. That's when Emily met you for the first time."

"I remember that night. She came over and talked to me for about two minutes that night. Longest two minutes of my life. That was actually worse than drunk Emily. God, the questions she asked."

Emily walked back in at that moment, carrying a half-finished snifter full of brandy and dragging her friend Bitsy by the hand. "Bitsy, come along, I want you to meet my daughter's boyfriend. He is sooo nice." She dragged the last two words out in a low, gravelly voice.

She came to the table and stopped, looking a little puzzled. She turned to Lorelai.

"Lorelai, are you on a date?" Lorelai dropped her head on the table in frustration, while Luke openly grinned.

"Yes, Mom, I'm on a date," she mumbled into the tablecloth.

Emily turned to Luke. "You must be her date, nice to meet you. Bitsy, this is Lorelai's boyfriend, …" Emily stopped, turned back to Luke and asked, "Do I know you?"

Luke stood up to greet the ladies. "Yes, Emily, we've met before. Several times, as a matter of fact." He deliberately didn't say when or where, unsure if she were talking to Porter or Luke.

Emily stood there a while longer, pondering when she had met this nice, tall man. Bitsy pushed her a little to the side, got close to Luke, and took his hand in both of hers. "Hi, nice to meet you. My name's Bitsy." She rubbed his hand suggestively, looking behind him to see the whole package.

Luke looked back at Lorelai, pleading silently for assistance. She sat back, intending to let him suffer just a moment longer. He responded politely to Bitsy, "Hi Bitsy, I'm Luke."

That caught Emily's attention, who had been sipping her brandy. "Luke? You're Luke?"

Surprised, Luke turned back to Emily, using that as an excuse to extricate his hand from Bitsy's grasp and step a safe distance away from her.

Emily continued.

"Diner Luke?" He nodded.

"Romanov Luke?" Another nod.

"Hospital Luke?" He shrugged, a little self-conscious, but nodded again.

"Lap dance iceman Luke?" The shock on Luke's face prompted Lorelai to act.

"Yes, Mom, all of those Lukes. I'm dating Luke. He's my boyfriend."

Emily looked him over again, top to bottom. "You clean up good," she told him.

She turned to Lorelai, saying only, "I told you so."

Emily drained her glass, stood up straighter and took Bitsy by the arm. "We're going now. Feel free to stop by for a cigar if you like. Luke, I'm sure the other girls would like to meet you too." Bitsy's face showed her clear enthusiasm for that idea.

"Thanks, Mom, I think we'll pass tonight. Maybe next time."

After Emily and Bitsy left, the couple breathed a sigh of relief and drained their wine glasses.

"I'm starting to understand the Porterhouse steak reference. Sheesh."

Lorelai laughed darkly, saying, "And you thought Babette and Miss Patty were bad, didn't you? The thing about the DAR ladies is, they sneak up on you, acting all polite and genteel, and then they pounce. At least you know what to expect from Patty."

* * *

><p>Rory and Jess walked back to her house in the dark, arms wrapped tightly around each other like lovers do. Upon entering the house, they discovered no one was home.<p>

"Hmm, I wonder where they are. It's pretty late, seeing how they both work and all. Do you wanna watch a movie?" Rory asked, drawing Jess over to the sofa, where they flopped down on the middle cushion, legs entwined, Rory half on Jess' lap.

"Movie sounds great. I don't know if you should expect your Mom back tonight, I made sure Luke knew that I was gone out of the apartment, just in case he needed some privacy. Luke doesn't even know I'm still in town, unless Patty told him." He wandered over to the stack of tapes and perused them a few minutes.

"Do you think they're really going to have sex tonight? They've only been seeing each other for a few days." Rory was a little concerned. "On the other hand, some of the girls on my floor at the residence hall seemed to sleep with a different guy every couple of weeks. I got really lucky with my roommates. They're weird but not really all that disturbing."

"Seriously? Paris?" he asked skeptically.

"OK, Paris is an exception, but she and I have friendly limits worked out. All I have to do it tell her I've got about three minutes of patience left before I explode and she makes herself scarce."

"Here's a movie I'll watch. East of Eden with James Dean, one of my favorites." Jess put the tape in and cuddled up near Rory again.

Necking and movie watching went hand in hand, mouth on mouth. Jess did take a break to pay attention to his favorite moments, remarking, "This is the only film James Dean ever saw finished. Such a life he had."

Rory had a little chill about that. "He also wasted his life, dying before he should have. That's just stupid, not wonderful or romantic."

"Ah, you just don't understand him. He was a great artist, and was treated like shit by everyone around him."

"I don't want to talk about him anymore. Tell me more about Mom and Luke at the diner." She snuggled close to Jess, playing with his hands as he talked.

He entertained her with the story and sideline commentary from Patty, cracking up at the dirtier bits. Rory hung on his every word, seeing a new version of her mother in his story, and a Luke she'd never seen before.

"Your story is so much better than Mom's version; I think she's trying to protect me, like she thinks I was raised in a convent or something. Maybe you should become a writer," she teased.

"Har har, you're so funny. Maybe I should become a writer and tell some of Patty's stories. I used to think she was just crazy, but I really admire her. She has really lived life the way it should be lived."

"Do you know what I like, Jess?" Rory asked, kissing him on the chin, then making her way down his neck. "I like that you see things that others don't, and aren't afraid to talk about it. Or write about it. That's what will make you a great writer someday."

Jess brought her face up to his and began kissing her in earnest. The petting went deep, deeper than Rory had gone before. She paused, panting, for a rest. Feeling her own desire for him, she looked at Jess for a very long time, searching, pondering, deciding.

"Yes." She said it calmly while looking him directly in the eyes. "Let's go back to my bedroom."

* * *

><p>The waiter and the maître d arrived with the cheese tray and dishes. The maître d was as cool as a cucumber, in spite of the sparkle in his eyes, but the young waiter's face was as red as a beet. He'd been forbidden to let his customers know they'd heard the whole interchange, but his face betrayed him.<p>

Lorelai asked, "What hard alcohol do you recommend with the cheese?"

The maître d immediately answered, "Kirschwasser." "Two shots, please," she requested.

They downed their shots and enjoyed the rest of their meal, revisiting every hilarious and embarrassing moment.

Over espresso and dessert, Luke said, "It may be a bit premature, but I've got a big question for you."

Lorelai held her breath. Was he going to ask her to marry him? She'd already had one false alarm, could she be wrong twice? Hardly possible.

"Lorelai, what do you think? Was this a disappointing second date?" he asked.

She exhaled. Gilmore, she told herself, you need to get a grip. You're really losing it. That question will come when the time is right. You can't go around every day wondering when this particular shoe will drop.

She took his hand in hers and answered, "This is going down in history as the best second date ever. There will be ballads written about it, the story of Emily and Porter."

"Good. Now I'd like to stop dating, if it's OK with you."

Stunned, Lorelai said, "I don't get it. You just said you loved me. I love you. I'm IN love with you. Why do you want to not date me anymore? What the hell?" Her face turned several shades of red.

Luke's jaw dropped. "What are you upset about? It's not that big a deal."

"It's a very big deal, the biggest deal. The Yeti of big deals. The Godzilla of big deals! You don't want to see me anymore?"

"What are you talking about, Lorelai? Of course I don't want to stop seeing you. I just want to stop this damn date mode stuff and get on with our lives. Our lives together," he emphasized.

Luke closed his eyes for a brief moment, took a breath, and continued. "I don't want to spend another minute apart from you; I'm ready for it to be us against the world, Lorelai and Luke, together, with Rory, a family."

He took both of her hands in his left hand and put his right arm around her shoulder.

"I'm not talking about rushing into any decisions like marriage blindly. Those decisions will come when the time is right, but I do want to feel free to be with you every moment we can spare, coming and going between our houses as if we both owned both of them. I want our daily lives to be as entwined as you are around my heart, there with every breath we take. We've been deeply involved in each other's lives for eight years, we're not children getting to know each other as we grow up. The only difference between then and now is we put us first."

As Luke talked, Lorelai let his words sink in, and she began to comprehend. It was freedom for them. Free to not do what the self-help books or the dating books said to do. Free to be themselves, strong, smart, enjoying each other's company more than anyone else's, challenging each other to be the best people they could be.

"Luke."

"What?" he asked, a little unsure of what he was about to hear.

"The Yeti is dead. Godzilla just fell over and crushed Tokyo. Luke and Lorelai aren't dating anymore. Does that work for you? It's what I want. I want my life entwined around yours."

"Good. Dating is a pain in the ass. You on the other hand, …"

She cut him off by kissing him deeply and said, "Let's go home."


	5. Their First Time Together

_**Author's Note:** An M-rated version of this chapter has been published in the book Relationship Renaissance Gets Dirty._

_ The T-rating feels a little limiting when trying to tell this part of the story._

_Feedback and reviews always welcome._

* * *

><p>Their First Time Together<p>

"I've waited years for this." He placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing the strap of her shirt down along her arm. He kissed her shoulder, tiny kisses, almost like whisper.

"I know. It took me a long time, too, but I'm ready. Scared, but certain. This is what I want."

She leaned into him, kissed him deeply, then rested her head on his shoulder. He held her close, caressed her hair, almost afraid that she would shatter, or bolt from him. She didn't. Her hands reached up to his hair, running her fingers through it, all the time looking him in the eyes, seeing how much he loved her.

The moonlight shone through the window onto the couple. Their kisses became deeper, more urgent. He pulled her towards her bed and sat, resting his head on her middle, wrapping his arms around her waist. She dragged her fingers from his hair, down to his chin and cupped his face in her hands.

He looked up at her, eyes heavy with desire. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered. "Are you?"

He guided her to the bed, sitting next to her. She lay back, her hair falling dark against the pillow. She opened her arms to him and he joined her.

* * *

><p>Moonlight and residual light from the streetlamps were the only light in the room. She stood in the center of the room, perfectly still, as she watched him walk over to the table. He put his keys, her clutch and his wallet on the table, then removed his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair.<p>

He turned to her and saw a Greek goddess, almost a statue, save for the movement of her chest as she breathed in and out. Her eyes outshone the moon, two blue pools of love and desire.

Her mouth slightly open, she willed him to come to her. He struggled with his need to grab her and passionately devour her, wanting instead to savor these first moments, to commit everything to memory, to feel every touch, hear every sound, and see every look she gave him.

The pressure inside him built as he walked with deliberation to the center of the room, facing her, close enough to feel her breath. Her gaze took his own breath away. He held off touching her, instead thrilling to the electricity between them as they stood just inches apart.

She trembled slightly as he raised his hand, this time it was she who bent to his will, lifting her hair with both hands so he could reach behind her neck and unhook the collar of her dress. The collar fell forward, exposing her throat, her pulse visible, beating out the rhythm of her desire.

Her hands reached out to him, loosening his tie, drawing the knot slowly down the front of his shirt until the narrow end of the tie slid out, no longer able to restrain its wearer. She let the tie slide to the floor as she unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt, this time exposing his neck, and his pulse, beating even faster than hers.

"I feel like I've waited my whole life for this moment."

The first touch of skin on skin propelled them past the point of no return. They made their way quickly to the bed, tearing off their clothes as they began exploring each other's bodies, translating the love they spoke of tonight into actions.

* * *

><p>"I love you Rory," he said.<p>

"I love you back." She lay beside him in her narrow bed, her head resting on his shoulder. "Am I hurting your arm? Are you comfortable?"

"I'm fine." Jess' discomfort wasn't physical. "Rory, I have to tell you something that you probably noticed already. I'm not as um, experienced as people think. They kind of assume that I've had lots of hookups, but they're mostly wrong. I hope you didn't mind, the, um,…"

"Jess, everything was fine. I don't have anything to compare it with anyway." Rory smiled affectionately at him.

"Oh, that hurts!" he smiled. He grew quiet, still feeling slightly embarrassed.

"No, Jess, seriously, it was wonderful. It was you, and me, that's everything. We're building our relationship, growing, learning, and all of this together. We can learn together."

Jess had never felt more love for Rory than he did at that moment. He hugged her, then pulled her on top of him. She dropped kisses on his face, love shining from her eyes.

"Learning together – I like that idea," he said.

They lost themselves in their studies.

* * *

><p>"Luke," she said softly, barely above a whisper. No answer. He was sound asleep, his arm around her waist, one leg crossing over hers at her knees, his head buried in her hair. She moved her left foot back a little and bumped into his left leg. She rubbed her foot up and down his shin, feeling the long hairs and the hardness of the bone. His muscular legs seemed surprisingly long, no spare flesh on them at all. She tucked her foot over his ankle. Perfect fit.<p>

If this was entwining, she liked it. Pulling the brown plaid sheet up to her chin, she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

Sometime later, the bed sagged, waking Lorelai up. Luke had just returned from the kitchen, settling himself at the head of the bed, his naked back supported by pillows leaning against the headboard.

"Hey you," she said. "Hey," he answered, leaning over to kiss her sleepy face. He set more pillows up against the headboard, and Lorelai dragged herself up to a sitting position, leaning on him, her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes closed again.

Luke made slight movements that made Lorelai curious, but not curious enough to actually open her eyes. "What are you doing?" she murmured.

"Eating." Lorelai woke up for that one. Luke rarely ate in her presence before they dated.

"Why are you eating?" she asked.

Luke answered simply. "Hungry. You know, the reason most people eat."

"That may be a first, you eating alone. I've never seen you eat alone."

"Not alone."

Slightly bugged, Lorelai replied, "I didn't mean alone alone, I meant eating by yourself."

"I'm not by myself either." He chewed with a small grin on his face.

"Luke! This is bugging me! Why haven't I seen you eating more often?"

"Maybe you haven't been paying attention?"

Lorelai whacked him gently with a pillow. "Be serious!"

"Well, except for special occasions like Thanksgiving, you're always eating in the diner. When I'm in the diner, I'm working, not eating. Most of my meals I have on my break up here in the apartment. The only other times I can think of were at town events, and I hate fair food, so I avoided eating whenever possible."

She answered, "There was the basket auction, when we had lunch in the gazebo. That was nice." Lorelai, looking at Luke's plate, picked up a grape and nibbled.

"When you were there, it was nice," Luke agreed, "but you kept being called away to fix the love lives of half of Stars Hollow. I thought for my money I'd at least get your undivided attention."

"I never thought of it that way. Sorry." Lorelai turned a thick slice of cucumber over, inspecting it before she ate it. "Mm. Good. You know, Luke, that you're the main event now. You get all my attention; I can spend my time fixing you instead of Rory's friends."

He bellowed with laughter. "It's a little soon in the relationship to talk about getting me fixed, don't you think?" He put down the plate, pulled her to him and began kissing her with no intent to stop.

"Give me that plate. I'm hungry too," she said. He reluctantly stopped, coaxing her head onto a pillow on his lap as she stretched out sideways on the bed. He picked up the plate and laid it on her belly. It bounced up and down a little as she squeaked in response to the cold feeling of the plate on her stomach.

They ate companionably, chatting idly about nothing. The grapes and cucumber slices became toys, as they first fed each other, then played hide and seek with their tongues and grapes. When the food was gone, they continued feeding their hunger for each other.


	6. Wednesday at the Dragonfly

Wednesday at the Dragonfly

"Lorelai." Soft kisses were landing all over her face. She slowly came to, saying, "You're the best alarm clock ever." She pulled him on top of her and began running her hands down his back, squeezing his cheeks in an impudent manner.

Pulling away with difficulty, Luke growled, "God, this is harder than I thought it would be. But we both have to go to work, and I want to talk to you before you go home to get ready."

She wrapped herself around him, trying to prolong the inevitable. "One of us has to be strong here," he groaned. He slid his arms down to her hips, pulling her closer to his body.

"Four days to the test run." Lorelai saw the mountain of work ahead of her, no way to get it all done. "There's no time for sleep, much less time for us to, um, not sleep. It was nice knowing you, mister. "

"Lorelai, please. That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. You don't have time to do it all. That's why I'm going to arrange my schedule to give me some time to help out. That way, even if we can't have another night like last night, we can at least work together to get the inn ready."

Lorelai disentangled herself, sat up, put her legs over the edge of the bed and took Luke's hands in hers. "No, Luke, the inn isn't your problem, it's mine. I've got to get it ready, not you. You've got the diner to run."

"I might have let you get away with such nonsense when we were dating, but we're not dating anymore, right?" Luke was adamant.

"It's not nonsense! I made promises to my partners and my staff, not you. You don't have any obligation to do anything, Luke."

Luke sighed, "You do have a promise to me. Listen to me, Lorelai, I WANT you in my life, and I WANT to be in your life. That's what you want, too, right? That's the commitment we freely made to each other."

"Yes, but …"

"No buts. Are you in or not?"

"I'm in. I love you; I want our daily lives to be entwined. No doubts, no buts." Of this, Lorelai was certain.

"Good. When Uncle Louie died, you were there for me, do you remember? Now it's my turn to be there for you. Being entwined means it's our lives, our diner, our inn, our responsibilities. Not mine and yours - ours."

"Uncle Louie was easy, and Rory and I were both happy to be there for you. This is different. How will you manage the diner and help out at the inn? It's all so stressful, there's so much to do." Lorelai couldn't see any way through this problem and really hated burdening Luke with it.

"The diner is running normally, it's not stressful. There are no major problems, so I'm going to do the following: pull in the part-time staff as much as possible, which will give me some more time. If that isn't enough, I'll shorten the hours, maybe close for a day. You need more rest."

"No, no closing the diner, I can't cost you income due to my poor planning."

"My decision, Lorelai." Luke stood up, and crossed his arms, giving Lorelai his most stubborn look. He had practiced this stare over the years, and it had often worked to make her back down from her position. He was not backing down today.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes before she spoke. "Doesn't being entwined make it OUR decision, Luke? By the way, you don't look nearly so threatening when you're naked."

She closed the space between them in two steps, put her hands on his crossed arms and gently pulled them down to his sides. She held his wrists lightly and waited for him to calm down.

Luke continued to stare her down while she smiled sweetly at him. Eventually he cracked a smile, and the two of them dissolved in laughter.

"Compromise: How about if I arrange the diner schedule and pull in the employees, but don't close down unless we decide it's necessary?"

"Deal. Now get dressed – you're much more convincingly sullen when you're wearing your flannel."

* * *

><p>Lorelai slipped into the house quietly, trying to make sure that Babette didn't see. Seeing Rory's door still closed, she decided to let her sleep. She ran upstairs, showered, dressed and headed out to the Dragonfly.<p>

Rory and Jess heard Lorelai drive away.

"Do you have to leave today, Jess?" Rory asked. She wasn't looking forward to his departure. Worse than the departure itself was her worry that he might leave without telling her.

"Not really. I can probably stay a while longer. We can take some time to talk, make some plans." He was as reluctant to leave as she was to let him go. He didn't mention the chance that he'd lose his courier job if he didn't show up soon.

"Breakfast, then? I have to go to the Dragonfly sometime today to help out. Oh, shoot! I also promised Grandma that I'd have lunch with her today."

Jess made coffee while Rory pulled out the breakfast offerings, mostly Poptarts and juice. "I think I'll go back to Patty's for a while, then head over to Hartford to visit some book stores."

"Do you know what I think we ought to do? I'd like to drive over to Yale and show you the campus. You'll have a completely different impression of campus life after I've shown you all the important things."

"What about your grandmother's lunch?" Jess asked. The last thing he could imagine being interesting was a walk around an empty campus. This day was not really looking very hopeful for him.

"We've got plenty of time to go there this afternoon. Remember? You once looked up the distance between Yale and Stars Hollow. Let's take that little drive together." She melted his icy mood with a kiss, and their plans were set.

* * *

><p>After Jess had gone, Rory got herself ready to spend the morning working at the Dragonfly.<p>

She could hardly contain her excitement. She was finally in love, real love! She couldn't wait for her mother to hear about her happiness. "As soon as Mom sees me and Jess together, she'll see how much he's changed, and she'll be happy for me. This is good," she thought.

"We should celebrate. I'll take some coffee to her. Mom loves Luke's coffee best of all. Mom loves Luke. I love Jess. Could this get any better?"

She walked into Luke's, smiling. She stopped to say hi to Babette and Morey, and was subjected to Babette's usual form of overprotection.

"You were up late last night, honey," said Babette. "Everything OK?"

"Oh yes, Babette, no problems. I'm still stuck in my late-night study mode. I'm awake at all hours of the night sometimes." Rory hoped no one had seen Jess leave this morning. This relationship was too precious to be roasted in the Stars Hollow town square.

She went over to the counter as Luke came out of the kitchen.

"Hi Rory! I'll get to you in a second, OK?" Luke smiled a truly happy smile and headed off to deliver the plates to some customers.

When he got back to the counter, she asked, "Did you guys have a nice time last night? I didn't get a chance to talk to Mom yet."

Luke looked down for a moment, then answered, "Yeah, it was nice." He looked up at her and it occurred to her that she had never seen happiness really deep in his eyes before. That was a beautiful sight.

"Looks like more than 'nice,' Luke. You look really happy."

"I am, kid," he said. Luke stood up straight, still smiling. It was almost more than he could wish for, to have both Gilmore girls truly a part of his life. A real family of his own.

"You want coffee?" he asked, changing the subject. He was dangerously close to breaking out in an idiotic love song like in those damn musicals Lorelai and Rory liked to watch.

"Yeah, two please, I'm going to go help Mom out this morning, and I thought I'd surprise her with her favorite coffee from her favorite coffee guy," she teased.

"Great, I'll pack up some muffins for you as well. You know what, I'll fill a thermos instead of cups and it will stay warmer longer that way."

He put the muffins in a bag, closed it and handed it to her.

"Any secret messages that I should keep away from the construction crew?" Rory asked, her eyes sparkling with humor.

"No, I'm sending my messages via couriers like you now. No chance of them being found by the wrong person. Tell your mom that I'll be over this afternoon if there's a lull, or tonight if there isn't. Make sure she makes a list of things for me to work on."

Rory laughed gently. "Or you could use your cell phone, you know. Turns out cell phones work really well for conversations and private messages."

"Here's your coffee, now shoo! You're bothering me, kid!" He looked at her with his "Rory and Luke have a secret that no one else has" expression, like the time she caught him caving in to her mother's request to advertise the Stars Hollow rummage sale, or when he made her a birthday coffee cake.

Luke watched Rory leave, thinking what a good kid she was. Too bad more of her hadn't rubbed off on Jess. At least Jess had come a long way by himself, remembering his participation in Liz' wedding. Ah, well, that's life, he thought. Jess has gone his own way, no telling when or if he and Rory would meet again.

* * *

><p>"Hi guys, here are fresh coffee and muffins from Luke's!" Rory said as she came into the Dragonfly's lobby. Michel and Lorelai were setting up the reception workspace, deciding where the printers and computers should go, how to run check-in and check-out, and a million other logistical decisions which needed to be made before the test run.<p>

"Hi Rory, glad to see you're back from school. Are you here for the summer?" asked Michel. "We could use a couple more people on the cleaning crew. How do you feel about scrubbing bathrooms?"

"Hello daughter, did you sleep well?" asked Lorelai.

"Slept great, Mom, thanks for letting me sleep in. Michel, you know I'd do anything that needs to be done here. I've cleaned toilets at the Independence Inn; I'll do it here when you need me. What can I work on now? I've got a couple of hours until I have to leave for lunch with Grandma."

"Emily's got her clutches in you already? What kind of plans does she have for you this summer? At the last dinner all she could talk about were things for the two of you to do this summer. Now that she's separated from Dad, she's completely focused on you." Lorelai felt pity for Rory, even though Rory was perfectly fine with visiting her grandparents.

She also worried about what might happen if Rory were caught in the middle between the two of them. Rory was too nice for her own good sometimes. "Don't let Grandma take advantage of you," Lorelai added.

"Rory, we're deep cleaning all of the rooms, one at a time, then locking them up until the test run. Can you work on that?" asked Michel.

"Oh! Good idea, Michel," said Lorelai. "Rory, why don't we work in one room together? It'll give us a chance to talk while we work."

"Make sure you get the rooms spotless! This is the last time we'll look at them before the test run," said Michel.

Starting with Room 15, Lorelai and Rory got to work. Everything needed to be wiped clean of construction dust, the bathroom fixtures needed to be sanitized, then the floors vacuumed or mopped.

Lorelai worked high on the walls, Rory low. They took one wall at a time together, wiping down every bit of wood and every fixture. The water that they rinsed their cleaning cloths in quickly turned gray from the dust left behind by Tom's drywall crew.

The women worked hard, side by side, catching up on all the small talk they had missed over the past few days. The latest town information, what Paris was doing this summer, how finals actually turned out, they synced up on the tiniest details. It felt good to Lorelai to really understand what was on her daughter's mind; the past year had been harder for her than it was for Rory. Rory had gone through enormous changes in the first year at Yale, and Lorelai had no real understanding how much Rory had changed. She was already so much more poised, more confident, more sure of what she wanted for herself.

After the first room was finished, Rory stretched and sat down on the floor for a break.

"Luke was so cute this morning, Mom," Rory observed. "You must have had a great time last night. Spill. I want progeny-appropriate details."

Wiping her forehead, Lorelai came over to sit on the floor facing Rory. She rinsed her cleaning cloth out and squeezed the excess water back into the bucket.

"There's a big story to tell, but I want Luke to be there to give you his side of the story. How about dinner tonight with Luke? Something at home?"

"C'mon, Mom, what happened? You can't keep a big story from me for the whole day." At that moment it flashed through Rory's mind that she also had a big story to tell. Maybe that one would be better tonight as well.

"No, sweets, but here's a teaser: Emily, Digger, and a cigar."

"Mom! Ewwww! That sounds disgusting! Are you sure you can tell the story in front of Luke?"

"Honey, he was the prize at the center of the story, or maybe the prey is a better description. Just wait, you really need to hear his side." Lorelai laughed even at the memory of Drunk Emily.

"I'd almost forgotten, Luke asked me to tell you that he'll come by the Dragonfly in the afternoon if there's a lull, or tonight if there isn't. Is he helping out now?" Rory asked.

"Yes, last night we, um, came to an agreement on some things." Lorelai hadn't quite figured out how to describe this deepening relationship. What made perfect sense in the middle of the night, still made sense today, she just couldn't find the words. "Entwined" didn't seem to do the job.

"Use your words, Mom. What kind of agreement?" Rory was intrigued.

"Well, you remember Uncle Louie's funeral, how we helped out?" said Lorelai.

"Sure, we just jumped in and did whatever was needed. I had never seen you and Luke so close, at least not until recently. It felt really good to finally do something for him instead of him doing things for us."

"It's like that, only it's not temporary, it's kinda permanent. We're going to just 'jump in' for each other all the time, for everything. Like the Dragonfly - Luke's gonna see how much time he can free up from the diner in order to come here and help out. When things get tough for him somewhere, I'll do the same."

"Permanent!? That's big, Mom! Is there more?" Rory was getting excited and very happy for her mother.

"A little. He gave me a key to the apartment, and I'm giving him keys to our house tonight. You have to start expecting three for breakfast sometimes."

"I can handle that, don't worry. After roommate hell this past year, Luke will be an angel." She paused. "And?" Rory tried to draw the one last great thing she expected to hear from her mother.

"Yes," said Lorelai. "We're in love. I told him, he told me."

Rory knocked her mother over squealing and hugging her. The two rolled on the floor, laughing and hugging.

Lying on the floor, breathing hard, Rory asked her mother one last question.

"Mom, was that the first time you told a man you loved him?"

Lorelai looked off out the window and replied, "It's more than just the first time I said it, it's the first time I felt it."

They lay there on the floor, letting their thoughts sink in. Lorelai was still marveling about this amazing love. Rory was trying to find words to tell her story.

Rory half-whispered her truth. "It happened, Mom. I listened to my heart, and I knew."

Lorelai pulled herself away from her private thoughts.

"What happened, Rory? Oh! My gosh! 'It' happened? When? How?" Lorelai suddenly got very serious.

"My guy, yesterday, and 'how?' You really want to hear 'how?'" That was a topic Rory was NOT ready to discuss.

"No no, for god's sake, do NOT tell me how! Forget I ever said that."

Lorelai caught her breath, put on her 'best friend' hat, then continued, "Who is it? When do I get to meet him?" She hoped against hope that it wasn't Dean. She racked her brain, trying to think of any boy from Yale Rory had mentioned in the past. No one came to mind.

"You met him already, actually you know him already. It's Jess." Rory was relieved to get those words out. She looked at her mother cautiously, preparing herself for any reaction.

Lorelai leaned up on her elbow, facing Rory. "Jess? Our Jess? The Jess who took off without saying goodbye?"

"Yes, our Jess. He came to see me at Yale, and we started talking. He's changed so much, Mom, you won't believe it. He went with me to Lane's yesterday and he wasn't sullen and uncommunicative. He was actually talkative and sociable."

"You're serious about him? This is a serious relationship?"

"Yes, Mom, I wouldn't have done it with him unless I was serious. He is too. We are together."

"But he left Stars Hollow on Saturday. He's not at Luke's. Where is he staying? Oh! Is he staying with you?" Lorelai's concern grew deeper as she realized what she might have seen if she had gone into Rory's room this morning. That must have been Jess she saw the other night as well.

"He spent the last couple of nights at Patty's. They sit up until all hours of the night talking and telling stories. It's kind of sweet." Some of the Patty stories Jess had told Rory were more risqué than sweet, but Rory ignored that for the moment.

"Rory, let Mommy catch up here, my brain is getting confused. You and Jess are back together, you made up after he took off that time, and you say it's a serious relationship for you? Am I right?"

"Don't forget how much he's changed. Even you told me he'd changed and you could see it at his mom's wedding. Otherwise, yes, you have it right."

"Wow. That's big. Really big. Is he still in town? What's next?"

"I still have my lunch with Grandma today, then Jess will meet me in Hartford and we're going to drive over to Yale so I can show him around. After that, we haven't talked. He has to go back to New York soon."

"Rory, this is going to take a little getting used to. You have a serious boyfriend, that's big enough, but your boyfriend's name is Jess, Stars Hollow's Jess Mariano. That's a little weird, don't you think?"

Lorelai jumped as she realized something even bigger. "And your boyfriend's uncle is my boyfriend! We've gone way past weird. Does Luke know?"

Rory answered, "I don't think so. He didn't say anything this morning, and since Jess has been staying at Patty's, Luke probably hasn't seen him either."

"I think dinner tonight is a must, all four of us. I'll break the news to Luke when he comes here, so no one is blindsided. You do the same with Jess, OK?"

"OK. Do you think Luke will be good with this?"

"Honey, I don't know what he'll think today. When Jess was here before, he was really pretty happy with you two dating." Rory had a flash of relief. She was still worried that her mother would lose it somehow.

"What time for dinner tonight? We need to make sure we leave Yale on time."

"It will be late if Luke has to close, but otherwise maybe 8.30, I guess. I'll call you later if there's a big time change. C'mon, let's get one more room done before you go to Grandma's for lunch."

* * *

><p>"Arrgh!" Lorelai tossed the long metal rod onto the floor. "These pieces just don't fit together!" As she sat on a sofa in the library of the Dragonfly, Lorelai contemplated the stack of boxes in front of her. Maybe the rooms didn't really need free-standing towel racks after all. The guests can just neatly fold their towels and place them on the bathtub.<p>

She chuckled sarcastically at her own foolish thought. Twenty years in the hotel business had taught her that most guests need incentive to keep their towels orderly, otherwise the housecleaning staff would be changing out towels every day. These beautiful, easy to use towel racks were meant to be that incentive, but the damn things just wouldn't go together.

Her cell phone rang. Luke.

"Hi, Momo. It's good to talk to a person capable of rational thought, as opposed to those brain-dead idiots who wrote the assembly instructions for these towel racks," she ranted.

"Hey. Not going so well?" asked Luke.

"No actually it's going pretty well today, I'm getting lots done." His deep, sexy voice flipped a switch deep inside her. That's how he speaks all the time, she thought, and I never noticed it before. "Hi," she said again, this time in a much more intimate voice. "I miss you."

"Yeah? I like the way you say that. It's a much nicer voice to hear than my usual daytime phone calls. Somehow the delivery guys just don't have the 'oomph' that you put into it." Luke's voice deepened further.

Lorelai giggled. "I'd get worried if you found the bread guy's voice sexy, wouldn't you?"

"This conversation has taken a very strange turn. Let's get back to the point of my call."

"Point? Dirty, hehe."

"Oh geez. Do you have a minute to talk, or are we gonna spend our time on a bit?" asked Luke.

Lorelai laughed, saying, "OK, OK, what's up?"

"Just checking in to see what the plans are. Do you need me this afternoon or evening?"

"I need you right now, with that sexy deep voice. You can't believe how it makes me feel." She spoke in a meaningful tone.

"Yeah?" He paused, took a deep breath, then continued, "We have to change this conversation right now, or nothing will get done for the rest of the day. Help me out here, OK?"

She sighed. "Yes, I suppose it has to be. Plans have changed a little for tonight. Rory wants to have dinner with us. She's bringing her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? She didn't say anything about a boyfriend this morning when she stopped by the diner."

"I know, and we should talk before the dinner. Can you come over this afternoon, or shall I come to the diner?"

"I'll come to the Dragonfly. The lunch crowd died down a little earlier than expected, so I've got an hour or so free. Do you need food?"

"No, Sookie brought food when she came. We've eaten already. Coffee is always welcome, of course."

"Never in doubt. See you soon."

"Bye."

Lorelai put renewed energy into the towel rack assembly, and by the time Luke arrived, she had one completely assembled. She stood up, looked the rack over, and thought, "Yep, just what I was looking for. Now to get the rest of them assembled."

At that moment Luke arrived, Bert and coffee in hand. Lorelai carried the rack over to him and showed him her accomplishment.

"Very nice," he said, taking the rack from her. "You figured out the instructions?"

"I figured out when to ignore the instructions, which made the assembly much easier." She took the coffee and the rack from Luke, set them aside, and wrapped her arms around him.

As they kissed, she slid her hands underneath his shirt, feeling his strong back, still covered by the dark T-shirt he wore. She probed his lips with her tongue, gained entry, tangling her tongue with his as Luke pulled her in close, pressing her up against his body. Lorelai moved her hips against him slowly, feeling his response almost immediately. She involuntarily arched her back, thrusting her hips against his as she grunted softly.

"Are you guys decent in there?" Sookie, who had heard Luke's voice, gave them sufficient warning before she entered the room.

They ended the kiss, but stayed in each other's arms as Sookie entered the room. Lorelai, her head on Luke's chest, turned a happy face to her. Luke, trying to compose himself, still had his face hidden by Lorelai's hair.

"Well, aren't you two just the cutest! It's like one of those fake couples in the photo frames. Hi Luke, having a good day, I see," said Sookie.

Luke was suddenly very grateful to have long shirttails in front, which prevented Sookie from seeing anything too revealing. He stepped behind Lorelai, picked up a box, and started unpacking the next towel rack.

"Hi Sookie," was pretty much all Luke could manage to say at that moment.

"I brought you some cookies, I baked them to test the oven temperature," Sookie said. "How's it going out here?"

"Just fine, Sookie. We're going to keep assembling these racks and talk a little. If you need anything, let me know." Lorelai gave Sookie a look which indicated the talking part was the most important part.

"Good, good, good. I'll be back in the kitchen, making sure I've got all the tools and ingredients for the test run. You holler if you need anything, OK? Luke, I used a new recipe for those cookies. Granola cookies, I think you might like them." She headed back towards the kitchen.

They started assembling the next towel rack in silence. Lorelai pointed out the occasional trick needed to put the thing together, and Luke caught on quickly.

"Hey, these cookies are good," said Luke after trying one of Sookie's cookies. "I wonder if she'll give me the recipe. Here, take a bite." He held out the rest of the cookie he'd started cupping a hand underneath to catch any crumbs as she bit.

"Mmmm, you're right. That's some tasty granola there." She took the rest of the cookie from him and nibbled further, taking a sip of the coffee he'd brought. "You two could start a pretty mean bakery or café if you wanted. Your coffee and pies, her cookies and cakes, yum."

"One of us would go to the penitentiary for murdering the other one, I suspect. Probably would take less than a week. We might never manage to open at all."

"Good point. I think I'll keep you both just where you are. My friend's restaurant during the day, my sweetie's diner at night. Best of both worlds."

"So tell me about Rory. This boyfriend thing must be pretty new, or you would have told me earlier, right?"

"Really new, she just told me today that she was serious about someone. She mentioned a couple of days ago that she thought something was happening, but she wasn't quite sure. Apparently it happened, like yesterday. She hadn't even told me his name."

"Do we know the guy? Please tell me it's not Dean. That would be a mess."

"It's not Dean, and we do know him." Lorelai looked directly into Luke's eyes, putting her hand on his knee for comfort. "It's Jess."

"Jess!? She's with Jess? How did this happen? He's not even in town. Jess didn't say anything at Liz' wedding. I don't get it." Luke stood up suddenly and started pacing.

Geez, Luke thought. This was complicated. He knew that Jess had loved Rory, but never thought it could have lasted this long. How in the world were Rory and Jess going to make this work?

Lorelai could see Luke going inside himself to process this news. She stood up and went over to him, breaking his train of thought when she put her hand on his arm.

"Luke, talk to me. We need to talk this through together. What are you thinking?"

Words were easier for Luke to think than they were to express. He stared at Lorelai for a moment before he spoke.

"Rory and Jess. I can't believe it. It's like we were thrown back in time," he said.

"That's exactly what I thought. There's one big difference, though, we can't tell them what to do. They're adults now. We can only watch and keep loving them."

He wrapped his arms around Lorelai's shoulders. "I hadn't thought about them being adults. Rory's still so young. I don't know what to think right now."

"Jess is almost exactly the same age, but they are both legally adults. This is not our decision. How about if we just take it at face value and see what happens tonight?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. We don't really have a choice, do we?" Luke brushed his hand over Lorelai's hair, sighing. They rocked back and forth slowly, eyes closed.

Suddenly Luke's eyes popped open and he looked at Lorelai. "Did you just say, 'keep loving THEM?' Have you changed your mind about Jess?"

"I'm pretty neutral about him. At least I was until I realized that the two people who I love and trust most in the world both love Jess. That tells me he has qualities I haven't seen yet. I'm counting on you to teach me. Think you can handle that?" She smiled as she saw Luke's face break into a smile as well.

"I've got Rory on my side, you don't stand a chance," he said.

"God, I love seeing you happy," said Lorelai. "Now get back to work. We've got an inn to open.

As they worked, they made a little small talk, but their minds were focused on the kids.

Luke had seen how Rory had gone on to Yale, struggled at first, but was coming into her own. He hadn't had a chance to find out if Jess had been successful at all, certainly his current apartment was a crack dump. Jess had finally reached out to his mother, so he had matured at least a little. Did he have a strong enough foundation to handle a relationship with Rory and all her associated baggage? Hell, was Jess prepared enough to do that with anyone?

Jess had that terrible ability to wound with words, to always hit the most painful emotions. What would happen to Rory the first time that Jess had an argument with her like the ones he'd had with Luke? How would Rory react when Jess said something unbelievably cruel? Would she be strong enough to argue back? To draw the line when it was needed?

To Lorelai, it didn't feel right. Something about Rory, about the very idea of Rory and Jess together, didn't feel right. She hadn't had a boyfriend all year, which worried Lorelai. Here she was now, just days out of school, deeply involved with Jess. That was the most difficult, frustrating relationship Rory had ever had.

She said Jess loved her. If he couldn't stay in Stars Hollow last time, how will he deal with Rory's crushing study schedule? Dean had been there for Rory every step of the way as she prepared for college, and he couldn't handle it. Was Jess more capable? If Rory can't find the time now to come home on the weekend, when will she find time to go to New York? Lorelai sighed. She still wanted to protect her daughter, even when she couldn't. Moreover, Lorelai was worried that Jess would get hurt again.


	7. New Boyfriend

New Boyfriend

That evening Luke walked over from the diner, carrying a pie and a small duffel bag with some clothes. He had dressed nicely for the dinner with Rory and Jess, wearing a nice shirt, jeans and his cotton windbreaker jacket. In spite of his trepidation about Rory's and Jess' relationship, he was thrilled and excited to be here tonight. It would be his and Lorelai's first night at the Crapshack, another checkmark on his list of dreams come true.

There was no light on in the living room, but there did seem to one coming from the kitchen, so he jogged around to the back porch. As he reached the back door, he could see Rory, Jess and Lorelai standing in the kitchen. Laughter rang out as Lorelai and Jess were doing some sort of weird line dance, dashing up and down the length of the kitchen.

Luke opened the door and entered, saying, "I'm home. Here's pie!" It felt a bit awkward to say it, but he was glad he did, because it also reminded him of his commitment to Lorelai. He dropped the duffel bag by the door.

Lorelai was laughing and saying, "No, no it was more of a skip than a trot, Jess. Didn't you have any practice holding hands and skipping with Luke when you went apartment hunting?" She giggled. Jess grimaced at the thought.

Glass in hand, she skipped over to Luke, trying not to spill any wine. Wrapping her arms around his neck, wine glass behind his head, she kissed him sweetly, saying in her best Donna Reed manner, "Hi honey, you're home. Brought me a pie, did you? That's as good as flowers for a Gilmore girl."

He pulled her to him with his free arm, saying, "That I knew already. Hi." One last light kiss and he released her, taking off his jacket and dropping it on top of the duffel bag in the back entrance. Saying hello to Rory and Jess, he looked at the wine glasses and asked, "How far behind am I?"

"Oh, still the first glass, Luke," said Rory, "and I'm done already. I'm switching to soft drinks."

"Beer only for me," said Jess. "You want one?" Luke nodded. Jess pulled a beer out of the fridge and handed it to him.

"I'd planned to order takeout, but when I talked to Sookie, she offered a roast chicken," said Lorelai. "Smells great, doesn't it? Free range and organic, she says. Her new chicken guy is good."

"Sure does. Shel's a great guy. Too bad for you that I found you first," he teased, taking a draft of his beer.

"Eh," she responded, "I prefer burgers to chicken anyway."

Rory added, "She called a couple of minutes ago and offered veggies, so Jess and I are going over to pick those up now. We'll be back in a few." They headed out the front door, hand in hand.

Luke and Lorelai stayed in place in the kitchen, necking.

"Now this is nice to come home to," Luke said.

"I'm glad you can call it home, Luke, especially since you rebuilt half of it."

"I didn't mean the house, I meant you," he said gruffly, trying to pull her even closer than they were already.

"Doesn't matter," she replied, "it's a package deal. The house comes with the woman. Speaking of which…"

Lorelai separated from him, going to the desk in the hallway where she pulled out Luke's keys to the Crapshack. She brought them back and handed them to him. Identifying each key in turn, she said, "Front door, back door, garage. I don't know what that one's for, but it came with the others."

"These look brand new," he said as he inspected them, then slid them into his pocket.

"They've been in that drawer ever since we moved in. We don't lock the doors very often, so they don't get used much," said Lorelai off-handedly.

"How many times have I said you need to lock the doors? Why did I change your back door lock if you don't ever lock it?"

"Oh my God, Luke, you replaced the back door lock because YOU broke it!"

"It was a cheap back door lock, the kind burglars look for. Easy to break into."

"That's why it wasn't worth locking. If the burglars could break it easily, why bother locking it? It would only lead to the expense of replacing it. Oh, wait! I remember that fourth key. It's the new back door lock key."

"Why didn't you throw the old back door lock key away?" he asked, pulling the keys out and removing the useless key, tossing it in the trash.

"You never know when you need an old key."

"Yes I do know when I need an old key. Never!" He sighed and asked, "Where's your key ring, let me get that old key off as well."

Lorelai got her purse and handed Luke her key ring. "There are like 30 keys here? Why do you need so many keys? This must double the weight of your purse when you put them in."

"Some of them I'm keeping in case I remember why I put them on the ring in the first place."

Luke sorted the keys. "OK, house keys, apartment keys, this ring is for the Dragonfly. You must have fifteen keys you can't identify. Let's take them off and lighten your load a little."

"No, not that one, that's the key to my parents' house. The others can go, I guess," she said. "And don't remove my Hello Kitty key fob. That's how I know those are my keys."

"We'll look at the unknown keys some weekend and try to figure out where they belong," said Luke, putting the key ring back in her purse. He took her hand and she came close to him, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed. "Man, I'm tired," he said.

After a moment Luke looked down at Lorelai. "How's it going with them? It still feels weird."

"Weird, but not weird at the same time. They are very cute together, and he's not the angry kid we knew a few years ago. He's much more the kind of 'boyfriend Jess' that I would have hoped for back then." Lorelai topped off her wine.

Luke processed her words for a moment. Lorelai just said Jess was the kind of boyfriend she hoped Rory would find? Wow.

"I'm still worried about Rory," Luke continued. "Jess hits below the belt when he's hurting. She doesn't deserve that kind of treatment."

"Luke, Rory has to learn how to handle that if she's going to be with him for the long term. God! I hated the way he treated you when you came to fix the window that one time. I went and yelled at him, he really ticked me off."

"Let it go, please, Lorelai. It's done, it's over."

He stopped and looked at her, thinking it's pretty nice when someone has your back. "You really yelled at him? You never told me. I did like the way you came back and took care of me, though."

Luke remembered waking up on her couch seeing Lorelai waiting with water, aspirin and a hug. He also remembered the feel of her hand smoothing his hair as she'd taken his cap off so he'd be more comfortable, then covering him up as he dozed.

They stood there holding each other, drawing strength from each other, until the younger couple came back with the food. Rory laughed as she and Jess entered the kitchen, saying, "See, Jess, they're at it again. Like rabbits, I tell you." Jess maintained an inscrutable expression.

"Ha ha," said Lorelai. "You try working as hard as we did today, and you'd be hanging on to something, too. We're too tired to move."

They got dinner on the table as quickly as possible, then sat down to eat.

"Luke," began Rory, "I had lunch with Grandma today. She didn't have much to say about your dinner at Persephone's." Her eyes twinkled, wanting to see how he would tell the story.

Luke's eyes darted to Lorelai's face. She demurely looked down at her chicken, apparently fascinated by the drumstick. "What did your mother tell you?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing, really. She thought it would be better coming directly from you."

She nudged Jess, who asked on cue, "There was apparently something about a cigar?"

Lorelai snorted.

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar!" Luke stated energetically. "The cigar was intended for Lorelai, anyway."

A chorus of 'Dirty!' resounded, followed by a burst of laughter.

Lorelai and Luke entertained the others with the details of their encounters with Jason and Emily. Rory contributed that Emily did at least remember meeting with Lorelai, but remained a little uncertain as to who Lorelai's date was.

Lorelai was in tears from laughter at the end, saying, "I love Drunk Emily, she was so funny, but honest, really, really honest!"

"You haven't talked to her since then?" asked Luke, wondering how and when Lorelai was going to tell her parents about their relationship.

"No, haven't spoken to her this week yet. We're not even having Friday dinner because of the test run. Mom is coming to the Dragonfly for lunch on Sunday, so we'll have a chance to talk then. Hey, can you all be there for lunch? We can make the introductions all at once. Rory is already going to be there."

"I'll be back in New York for sure by Sunday. My job won't wait forever," said Jess.

"Can you have the lunch sometime after one?" asked Luke. "The brunch and church crowds will be getting easier by then. I'll have to leave the test run early on Sunday morning to open, by the way."

"Probably, let me check with Mom. Rory, is 2 p.m. ok for you?" suggested Lorelai.

Rory hadn't thought so far to realize that Jess had a full-time job with responsibilities. No free summer like she had. "No chance of you coming up on Sunday for the day?" she asked her boyfriend, adding, "Two o'clock is fine for me."

"No way," said Jess, "I've been swapping schedules and calling in favors all week already. If I'm not back by Friday and working double shifts, there won't be a job at all, not even a place to sleep." Jess' single mattress in a decrepit building could not be called 'an apartment' by any means. He began to worry how Rory could visit him in New York with no place to stay.

Lorelai and Luke exchanged glances. Money was clearly going to be an issue between these two kids. Rory may not be a trust fund kid, but she wanted for nothing and went to an elite university. One day she would inherit the Gilmore fortune, something her mother had never discussed with her. Jess had nothing but his brain and his back and a drive to succeed.

Lorelai didn't expect her parents to leave any money to her after she left home, but they loved Rory and had no one else to give it to except charity. Managing that money was another challenge that Rory would have to face one day, and she wasn't yet prepared for it.

"Jess, you were talking earlier about a possible change? What's that about again?" she asked, turning her mind away from future problems.

"I worked with a couple of guys who are starting a press in Philadelphia. They're just getting their company going and there may be a job in it for me."

"What would you be doing?" asked Luke.

"It's only those two guys and me, so we'll be doing everything, really. We're looking for good books to publish, we'll do the editing, organizing the printing, publicity, all of it," he said.

"It's more than that," said Rory. "Jess has a book that might be one of the first ones they publish!"

"Almost have a book," he cautioned. "It's not done, and so far, it sucks."

"What's it about?" asked Lorelai.

"It's a novel, but I don't wanna talk about it right now, cause I'm making some pretty big changes and the whole plot might be different by the time it's finished. The first draft is done, but it needs a lot of work."

"Jess, that's great news! Isn't that great, Lorelai?" asked an excited and proud Luke. "Nobody in our family has ever written a book. That's amazing."

"Take it easy, Luke," said Jess. "There are a million ways for this to fail."

"But you haven't failed if you get the book written. Who cares if it gets published? None of us has ever written a book. Very impressive. My nephew the author."

"Maybe one day it will be your nephew the published author," offered Lorelai, squeezing Luke's hand in support.

"Yeah, yeah, even better. Man, that would be great. You know what? Let's have another beer to celebrate." Luke got up and grabbed two beers from the fridge. "Lorelai, Rory, you want anything?" he asked. Rory shook her head no.

"No, thanks, I've still got some wine. Rory, hun, how about if we do the dishes and you guys go out back and enjoy the weather? Gives me a little mother-daughter time," said Lorelai.

The men headed outside and sat down on the back porch steps. The fireflies provided the only light in addition to the light streaming out the glass in the back door. Luke and Jess sat in silence for a while, while Lorelai's and Rory's voices could be heard, but not understood in the background.

"You and Rory together. Feels a little like a year ago," said Luke.

"It's nothing like a year ago," replied Jess.

"Yeah, I know, it just feels like it. Feeling something don't make it a fact. It's just a feeling."

Silence.

"Jess, how are you going to handle a long distance relationship?" Luke tried to approach the topic gently.

"We'll figure it out."

"Rory's given the last 20 years of her life to earn a place at this university; don't let her give it up. It would devastate Lorelai and Rory both."

"We'll figure it out. Rory can decide for herself."

"Just don't make any rash decisions, OK?"

Jess snorted softly.

"What are you trying to say with that, Jess?" Luke was irritated at Jess' response, knowing that if Rory lightly gave up her college dream, it would ultimately hurt both Rory and Jess.

Jess gave Luke that hard, challenging look that signaled the start of one of their big arguments.

"Look who's talking about rash decisions. How long have you and Lorelai been together? A week? Now you live together? And you're telling me not to rush into anything?"

Luke stood up, angry. He went down into the yard and stared into the woods, trying to stay calm, then suddenly turned on his heel and came back face to face with Jess.

"Ten years, Jess, ten damn years is not rushing into things! Lorelai and I have seen each other on a nearly daily basis for the past ten years. I know every move she's made, every mistake she's made over that time, she's seen mine. We know each other's weaknesses as well as our strengths. I was there when she needed help raising Rory, getting her through Chilton, even moving her into Yale!"

Luke flopped back down on the steps.

"I would have given anything to have been in this place years ago, but it just wasn't right. When she might have been ready, I wasn't, or the other way around. We both had a lot to lose if we'd jumped too soon, because our friendship was too important to risk. We loved each other as friends a long time before we dared anything more, and part of that was waiting until Rory was independent enough to deal with it."

Having finally been able to express his strongest frustrations, Luke relaxed, taking another draft of his beer. He turned and looked Jess in the eye.

"Jess, these two have been my family these ten years. I love them more than I do myself. You're my family too, and you matter to me."

He continued, choosing his words carefully. "I know you love Rory. Whatever I can do to help, I will, but I don't want either of you to abandon your dreams. Find a way to work it out, and call me when you need something, OK?"

Jess softened slightly, seeing a different Luke than he'd experienced when he lived in Stars Hollow. "We'll figure it out, Luke, and yes, I promise to let you know if I need something. OK?" Jess didn't wait for an answer, but went inside.

* * *

><p>After Luke and Jess had gone outside, Lorelai asked Rory, "What did your Grandma want?"<p>

"First she avoided the subject of Grandpa completely, then she put the pressure on for me to travel with her this summer. She even suggested Europe. Mom, she is so lonely, I feel sorry for her."

"Rory, she and Grandpa will make up. She got really mad at him when he put their whole retirement at risk. As soon as she realizes that it's all worked out for the best, they'll get back together. You'll see. On Sunday she'll be a lot better, maybe she'll have completely different plans by then."

Lorelai continued. "You're right about Jess, kid. He really is different, he's much more sociable," Lorelai said as they washed and dried the evening's dishes. "He clearly cares for you. That's even more important to me."

"I knew if you only looked, you'd see what I do! That makes me really happy!" Rory gave her mother a very wet hug, squeezing the wet dishtowel between them. Lorelai in her turn splashed Rory with some soapy water.

Lorelai almost gave into her desire to quiz Rory about how she was going to manage this long distance relationship, or how she would fit Jess into her summer, but she chose instead to let Rory lead.

"What are your plans for the summer, then?"

"Too many options, I just can't even begin to decide. I really need to earn some money, things got very tight last year. It's not going to be cheap to visit Jess either, no matter where he ends up. Traveling with Grandma would be a great idea, but then I can't work. I'm going to think about it for a little while, then talk it over with Jess before I decide."

With that, Lorelai's hopes of a fun summer with her daughter were dashed. There won't be any long days spent together getting the Dragonfly up and running or nights spent watching movies and eating junk food. Her daughter had grown up already. Their relationship had just changed forever.

Jess came through the door and reminded Rory that they were going to go out to see some friends in Woodbridge, and it was getting late. She quickly got her jacket and gave her mother a hug goodbye.

"I'll be at the Dragonfly tomorrow, Mom. See you then, OK?"

"Sure, yeah. You better be ready to work hard, because I'm gonna be a slave-driver. No pain, no gain."

She went over to Jess and gave him a quick hug. "You be careful, Jess, and you're welcome here anytime, do you hear?" He nodded.

"Let's go out the back and say goodbye to Luke," said Rory, as she tugged on Jess' jacket. "Night, Mom."

Lorelai flicked the dishtowel into shape, folded it in half and laid it over the edge of the sink. She grabbed two beers from the fridge and went out back to Luke.

Handing him a beer, she sat down next to him and pulled his arm over her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his knee, put her head down and sighed.

"I'm old."

"No you're not."

"I'm the mother of a college student who doesn't need her mother any more. That's old."

"She needs you."

"No she doesn't. She doesn't even have time for me this summer."

"She'll make time. Just wait."

"How was your chat with Jess?"

"Pretty much like all the others."

"Sorry. That probably makes you old too."

"Thanks. I'm too tired to argue the point. Shall we go to bed?"

"Sure. Us old people need their sleep."

Lorelai rested there a moment longer, then said, "She flew the coop. Left the nest. Our little bird has gotten her wings."

"You're talking about Rory?" Luke smoothed his hand over her hair, trying to comfort her.

"Jess, too, in principle. It was just a year ago that we had two strong, beautiful baby birds in our nests. Now they're both gone."

"Testing their wings."

She sat up and smiled at Luke, who involuntarily smiled back.

"Now you get it." A new perspective dawned on Lorelai. "Do you know what that means?"

"Tell me."

"That makes us empty-nesters, not old."

"I'm good with the metaphor change. Can we go to bed now?"

She ran her finger along his chin, trailing it down his neck. "Do you know what the first thing empty-nesters do when their kids are out of the house?" Her lips took over where her finger stopped.

"Getting a few ideas." He felt his pulse race as she kissed closer to his heart.

Lorelai moved in front of Luke, kneeling on the bottom step between his knees. She pulled down the neck of his T-shirt, kissing the exposed skin. He groaned as his pants started feeling tighter. His hands found her lower back, his fingers reaching into her pants.

She pressed him backwards until he leaned against the stairs.

"Do we have to do it outside, or do empty-nesters get to use beds?" he asked. "Because if we have to do it in a tree I'll find a way." He closed his eyes as she pulled his T-shirt up and her hands reached his chest. His hips shifted as her fingers pinched his nipples gently.

She laughed at the idea of Luke in a tree. Yes, he'd definitely find a way if needed, she acknowledged.

"That's the brilliance of the empty nest. We can do it anywhere, anytime. No pesky kids with jam hands running in and out of the room." Her lips took over from her fingers, making his nipples bead up as she sucked and tugged them. "Save the tree idea for some other time," she added.

He grasped her firmly, pushed her back and stood up. "Bed it is. I'll put a treehouse on the list."

She hooked her fingers onto his belt and let him pull her along as he went inside. He grabbed his duffel bag and they headed upstairs.

Inside the bedroom, he turned and pulled her to him, planting burning kisses on her neck and along her collar bone. Lorelai tightened her grasp around his neck and hooked one leg behind his knee. He allowed himself to collapse onto the bed, rolling to the side to keep from crushing her. "Nice way to feather the nest," she thought, as his kisses took center stage.

* * *

><p>Luke awoke later and looked at his watch. Damn, time to meet the bread guy. He stretched, pulled on his sweats and T-shirt and headed downstairs. He started coffee and water for tea, making sure to have enough coffee for both Lorelai and Rory. Never even heard Rory come in last night, he thought, she must have been very quiet. He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to wake up a little more. The water finally boiled and he poured it into his cup to steep.<p>

He opened the back door to gather the empty beer bottles. Returning to the kitchen, he glanced at Rory's door, noticing that it was open. He walked over to see if she was awake, but her bed was still made. She hadn't been home all night.

Luke poured Lorelai's coffee, removed the tea bag from his own cup and took both cups upstairs after turning off the coffee machine.

Lorelai rolled over, somewhat awake. "Is that coffee I smell? You're an angel," she mumbled.

"Last night I was an eagle, feathering the nest, you said. Now I'm an angel? I see an identity crisis coming on." He smiled as he set her coffee on her night stand, sat on the bed next to her and kissed her.

"I'm going to call you 'Big Eagle Coffee Angel' for as long as I can remember the name," Lorelai said.

"I'm praying for a short memory, then," he answered, kissing her again. "Here's your coffee." He moved to his side of the bed and sipped his tea.

Lorelai pulled herself to a sitting position, took a deep sniff of the coffee. "Smells wonderful, thanks for making it." She took the first sip. "Mmmm, tastes even better."

Once the caffeine started to take effect, Lorelai's To-Do list took over. "So many things to do today. We're mopping all the floors, making all the beds, it's like being a maid again. My mind just won't let my body rest." She let her head fall to her chest and leaned forward.

Luke rubbed her back in empathy. "I have an idea. How about you come with me to meet the bread guy? Together we'll finish twice as fast, then I'll make you breakfast. That ought to get you to the Dragonfly at least two hours earlier than yesterday."

"You promise more coffee?" "All the coffee you want." "Deal."

They drank in silence for a minute, then started getting ready for work.

"Lorelai, did you know that Rory didn't come home last night?" Luke asked when Lorelai came out of the bathroom and started putting on her clothes.

"No, but I'm not surprised. By her own words, it's a serious relationship. If he's only got a day or so before he has to go back to New York, they're certainly going to spend as much time as possible together."

"Do you mean…?" He couldn't quite bring himself to say it explicitly.

Lorelai gave him a sympathetic look. Poor Luke hadn't had years to anticipate this, like she had. "Luke, when was your first time? You know when my first time was. What about yours?"

"Yeah, I get it. Nineteen seems too young, though, when it comes to Rory."

"She's not twelve anymore, Luke, you know that. I thought about this a lot when she was off at Yale. Wondering if she was safe, if she was ready, how she would handle it, but I was also grateful that she didn't just get it in her head one day that she 'needed' to do it, to get it over with. Now that it's happened, she told me that it was with someone she loved, and she was ready emotionally. I couldn't ask for more than that."

"That someone was Jess? What are we supposed to do about it?" Luke looked a little lost.

Lorelai went over to Luke and started buttoning his flannel for him. "Nothing. We can't do anything. They've done it and they live with whatever consequences there are. We can only hope it turns out for the best." She gave him a reassuring hug.

"Your daughter and my nephew? We're already more entwined than I thought." He brushed a stray lock of Lorelai's hair back behind her ear, following it with a kiss to that same earlobe. "Ready? We ought to get going."

As Lorelai started the Jeep and pulled out of the driveway, Luke continued processing the information. "Isn't it a little weird, you know, you and me, and my nephew and your daughter?"

"Unusual yes, but not weird. Weird would have been if you and I had been together for a couple of years already and the four of us were living under one roof."

"Oh god, yes, that would have been strange."

"What's really strange, Luke, is how you've managed to avoid telling me when you had your first time," Lorelai teased, pulling into a parking space. "I asked you already, but you conveniently skipped over that question."

He saw a man standing in front of the diner. "Oh, man you've made us late. Dave's there already. He gets really irritated if I'm not there to receive the shipment."

"How did I make us late? We walked out the door at the same time!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You had to choose between three different sweaters. Why would you need to dilly-dally choosing a sweater so you can MOP FLOORS? Nobody cares what color your sweater is when you're making a bed." Luke hopped out of the Jeep and jogged over to Dave, waving from the distance.

"Dilly-dallying? I wasn't dilly-dallying! Hey! Wait up!" Lorelai chased after Luke, who was already talking to Dave.

As she reached the two men, she could hear Dave say, "Breaking in a new employee, Luke? Little slow, this one, isn't she?" Dave, like most everyone else in Stars Hollow who had an involvement with the diner, knew about Lorelai, even though he'd never met her personally.

"Well, Dave, I think she's got potential, just have to get her properly trained," Luke replied. "Load her up."

Dave turned to Lorelai. "What's your name, kid? Trying to break into the diner business, are you?"

Giving Luke a black look, Lorelai replied, pointing over at Luke with her thumb, "Dave, this one's getting a little old, don't you think? He's really slowed down the past couple of years; some new blood might revive the diner a bit."

"Load 'er up, Dave," was all Luke said, as he leaned against the wall.

"OK, kid, let me know when it's too much." Dave took two large plastic trays filled with hamburger buns and handed them to Lorelai. She held the load steady.

"Gimme two more, Dave," she said, defiantly looking at Luke, who stood there grinning at her.

"By the way, Lorelai, you damage the goods, it's coming out of your wages," he deadpanned.

"Shut up and open the door, boss!" she said sarcastically. Lorelai moved towards the door, a little unsteady under the unwieldy load.

Luke silently opened the door, and Lorelai took one step, steadied herself, then took the second. She glanced triumphantly back at Luke and moved forward, promptly tripping over the door jamb. All four trays went flying and she landed face first in the middle of the bottom tray.

"Lorelai!" Luke shouted, leaping both steps to help her, followed closely by Dave. When he ascertained that she was ok, he fell back on the diner floor, laughing his ass off.

She swatted him with a package of buns she'd flattened. "Here's what I really think of your buns, mister!"

"Luke, I gotta run. You got this under control?" asked Dave, trying his best to look businesslike and nonchalant, suppressing his desire to laugh.

"Got it! See ya Monday, Dave," Luke said, nearly in tears from laughing so hard.

Lorelai jumped on top of him, pinning his arms to the floor, knees on either side of his waist. "Don't think I don't see what you're doing, Luke. You still haven't answered my question. I'm not giving up until you do."

Luke just reached up and kissed her, first on the nose, then the lips. "Ready for breakfast? I'll get it started while you clean up here, OK?"

He let her hold him down a moment longer, then easily sat up, folding her hands together and pulled her onto his lap. She pouted until his insistent kisses broke through her anger, then she responded in kind.

Later, when the coffee was made, Lorelai had started eating her pancakes, and Luke had the diner ready to open, he stopped and sat down with her, his own pancakes and fruit cup in front of him.

She looked at him expectantly. He sighed, knowing he was defeated.

"It really wasn't a big thing, you know. I'd just finished my track career, won all those trophies and was riding high. I wasn't dating anyone seriously, but there were plenty of girls who were interested. So I dated some, all different people, lots from other schools."

"Mom had died years before, Liz was gone. Dating was meaningless for me. It just didn't make sense. Liz had done nothing but date, and was in trouble all the time. I couldn't see why I should go out and spend time with someone when I got a feeling about them almost instantly."

"What I hated most was the idea that it was a competition. Guys I thought were my buddies suddenly had a sister or a friend who wanted to go out with me. When I did my friends a favor, the girls were always trying to get me to be something I wasn't. Mostly what they wanted was to show me off to their friends. I never made a real connection to anyone, so even though it wasn't easy, I turned down the ones who only offered sex. I wanted a real connection with someone more than I wanted the sex. Some were disgusting. When they didn't get what they wanted, they made up stories. Crazy Carrie is one of those."

"One girl approached me via a friend from another school. She was his cousin or something, and from out of town. We went out a couple of times. She seemed different somehow. I felt comfortable. I was convinced that was the connection I'd been looking for. One day I felt the connection, I let myself go, and we did it that night. The next day she disappeared, turns out she was just another one of those who wanted the trophy hookup. At least I learned what it felt like to meet someone who pretended to make the connection I wanted. Since then, I've been more careful."

"Stupid, huh?"

"Not stupid, Luke. I know the feeling better than you might think. Once it got around that I was pregnant, I was considered an open target. Guys wanted in my pants and they took any opportunity they could to corner me. They were crude as well as cruel about it, too. Christopher was the only one who was halfway human to me. It happened before Rory was born, it happened after. I felt trapped every direction I turned. When I ran to Stars Hollow, I knew I needed to be careful. Never let anyone get too close. Saying crazy things helped me keep the distance.

Luke made a wry grimace. "No wonder it took us so many years to get together. Those are big walls to break through. Hey, your pancakes are cold now. Do you want fresh ones?"

"No, I think I'd rather go to the Dragonfly. You haven't eaten a thing, though," said Lorelai.

"Most of my meals are cold by the time I get to them anyway, no big deal. You've got about five minutes before Kirk gets here, by the way."

"Even bigger motivation to go," she chuckled. Lorelai stood up, walked over to Luke and put her arm around his shoulder. "Thanks for the talk. I never told anyone that before."

Luke pulled her down onto his knee and hugged her close. "Me neither. Lorelai, I love you, remember that."

"I will. You are my love, my inspiration, and today, my slave driver." She smiled, remembering the bread delivery this morning. "You know, I've got an abnormal love for doing dishes. Maybe next time you should put me back in the kitchen on dishwashing detail."

They stayed enveloped in their hug until Lorelai saw Kirk crossing the street. "Show time," she said, giving Luke a goodbye kiss. "I'll call you later."

* * *

><p>Rory sat in an easy chair in Patty's guest room as Jess awoke.<p>

"Hi," he said sleepily. "Whatcha doing?"

"Looking over the course offerings for fall. I'm trying to figure out which classes to take. You have to be early to get into the classes with the best professors. I'm thinking about Western Visions of Greece. It shows how important Alexander the Great was to the West. Another possibility is myths, epics and other literary traditions from Mesopotamia."

"How is that going to get you a job as a reporter?" Jess sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"A classical education is the best preparation for life there is, my Grandpa says. He's always able to draw a connection between his education and the topic we're discussing. That makes me think it's important to have that foundation."

Jess pulled on his pants and shirt and then looked for his shoes and socks.

"I've got to go back to New York," he said, abruptly changing the subject.

Rory made a pouty face and went over to him, pulling on his shirt and rubbing his chest. "Can't you stay a little longer?"

"No, I got a text message from my crew lead and he said to be on the job tomorrow morning or lose it. The guys from Philadelphia haven't contacted me at all, so I'd better keep the job I have until I find a better one."

"Why don't you look around here? You worked at Wal-Mart, but there must be better jobs here too. I'll be searching for a summer job myself; maybe we could find jobs together!"

It would be nice to have Jess around for the summer, Rory thought. Luke's apartment is empty, pretty much, and he could stay there for free. "If you close for Luke once in a while, I'm sure he'd let you use the apartment."

Jess' packing consisted of throwing a half-dozen pieces of clothing and his toiletries into a duffel bag, so he was ready to go within a minute.

"Rory, c'mon, I can make more money in a week as a messenger than I can in a month at Wal-Mart and Luke's. I've got regulars, they pay more to get the messenger they want, and I'm good. Being in New York also keeps me in front of the guys with the publishing company. That's what I'm going to do tonight; we're going to hang out. That'll give me a chance to catch up with them and see how the startup idea is developing. I can add my ideas, so when they do pull the trigger, my name is the first one they think of."

"Aah, cultivating mutually beneficial relationships. How very Gordon Gekko of you," she smiled.

"Yeah, well, all I know is when we are face to face, they listen. They like my ideas."

Rory picked up her jacket as Jess took his bag and they went into Patty's apartment. In the small house backing onto the property of her dance studio, she had added a couple of rooms at the back for her guests. They not only gave privacy to her friends, but also prevented them from having to smell the cigarette smoke that was omnipresent in her apartment.

"Good morning, Jess," she said in her usual sultry, smoky voice. She was working on her studio schedule, entering all the bookings into her web site, Miss .

She looked up and noticed Rory. "Well, hello again, dear." Patty spared Rory the usual innuendoes that she was so fond of. Jess could take it, but she knew Rory would just have her feelings hurt.

"Patty, I've got to go back to New York," Jess said, "Thanks for the use of your guest room. I just didn't feel comfortable staying at Luke's any longer."

"Yes, he and Lorelai are like a pair of rabbits who just discovered sex. That was some dance at his sister's wedding. In all my years singing torch songs in front of crowds of dancing couples, I never saw anyone who fell in love faster and more completely over a single dance."

Rory blushed at Patty's comment about her mother and Luke. "Patty, it's not really that way," she started, but Jess' snort and Patty's laughter interrupted her.

"Listen, Rory, it had the intensity of the Cuban missile crisis," she chuckled. "Luke was already smitten, of course, everyone knew that, but Lorelai… Oh it was amazing to see it unfold on her face! So beautiful, like when I see one of my ballerinas go from feeling awkward to realizing the true beauty of expressing herself with her body. Lorelai walked into the dance as Luke's friend and left as his lover. She really had no options. It was a once in a lifetime moment."

Patty sighed as she remembered her many 'once in a lifetime' moments. Rory blushed deeper, but filed the thought away so she could look for it the next time she saw Mom and Luke together.

"We're going over to Weston's for breakfast before Jess goes back to New York. Do you want to join us?" Rory asked.

"Oh, I'd love to dear, but my first class starts in a few minutes. You two go have fun." She stood up and enveloped each one in a hug. "Jess, you are welcome here any time. It was fun telling stories over whiskey. You're going to be a great author when you've had enough experiences to write about the passion and the pain. Especially the passion," she intimated.

After breakfast, they stopped at Doose's to pick up a pack of Red Bull for Jess' drive back into the city. Then they walked over to his car, which had been parked near the edge of town.

Jess ranted about the lack of parking spaces when he drove in. "How can a town like think have no parking available? I came in on a weeknight evening, there was absolutely nothing going on, but there were no parking spaces available anywhere near Luke's! New York has better parking available! I had to park all the way on the other side of the fruit streets!"

Rory just smiled and hugged his arm as they walked. It was nice to see that Jess had picked up some of Luke's cutest traits. It was also funny to hear him complain about parking in Stars Hollow, as if it were easy to park in New York City.

"Why don't you come with me?" he asked suddenly, taking one last shot. "You can find a job; there must be some way to make this work."

"Jess, I'm needed here to help Mom. And I can't afford a place to stay in the city. We can't stay in your room, you have too many roommates already, and we'll never be alone."

He tossed his bag in the car angrily. "I don't know when I can come back here," he grumbled.

"I can visit you," she offered, "I just don't know how we'll find time to be together."

"I'll find a way," he promised, "You just make sure you come, OK?"

"I'll find a way, too, Jess, I promise," Rory said, kissing him tenderly. "Call me as soon as you're home safe."

She closed his car door, waved him off and watched him turn the corner headed towards the highway. Rory walked back to the center of town, but headed to Lane's rather than home. She wanted to think about some things before facing her mother again.


	8. Teach Me Again

Teach Me Again

Standing in the square, standing protected in the shadow of the gazebo, Rory looked over at Lane's apartment. The whole band was over there - she could hear them even before she could see them._ Probably better to go over later, when Lane and I can find some girl time._ _ What now, then? I can't face Mom yet, maybe I'll get a coffee and - figure it out later, I guess._

She crossed the square, pulling her sweater tighter around her rail thin body, emphasizing her vulnerability and adding a pathetic dimension to her expression. Two pairs of eyes watched her sad walk of introspection. They were just two of the many Stars Hollow people who'd been guardian angels for Rory for years, and they knew her emotions even when they weren't as obviously displayed as they were now.

Her coffee was ready at the counter when she entered. She looked up at him gratefully as Luke indicated her seat. _He has his special 'Dad Luke' face on, _she mused, _and not the teasing face, but the 'you can tell me anything' face._ She was glad she didn't need that version of Luke often, but even happier that she saw it today.

Sliding onto her stool, she took a sip of the still-hot coffee.

"He's gone?" Luke asked. There was no need to clarify who that pronoun referred to.

"Yeah. He had to go back to work."

"You'll figure it out; you know that, don't you?" Luke's heart felt a twinge of pain as he recalled the other times Jess had made Rory unhappy and wished there were an easy solution. Sadly, the solutions at age 19 were going to be harder, now that they'd started an adult relationship.

She looked up at him. "He really loves me, I'm sure of that," she said, "but I don't know if we'll ever find common ground."

"Rory, he's always loved you. I can't remember a time when he didn't." His voice was gruff, noting the irony. _Gilmore girls and Danes men, made for each other or an (un)natural disaster in the making. Kinda hard to figure out which it was sometimes._

Her sad eyes shone with gratitude and love for him. _Dad. Step-dad. Almost Step-dad. The label didn't matter; he'd always been there for her. _"Can I get the rest to go? I need to go to the Dragonfly soon."

Luke poured fresh coffee into a to-go cup and closed the lid, grateful to not have to look at her pitiful expression for a moment.

She had her money out, ready to pay. "Family doesn't pay," he said, "I don't want to see your money here again." Luke walked her to the door, gave her a big hug, and watched her walk away.

Slightly encouraged by his words, Rory picked up her pace. She glanced nervously at Miss Patty's studio as she walked by, trying not to think about this morning. Suddenly Miss Patty called her over.

"Rory! Can you come here for just a second?" she said. "I need to go into the back for a couple of minutes. Can you please watch the girls?"

"Sure, happy to help out," Rory replied. 'Happy may have been a stretch, but a distraction could be good.

"Just pick them up if they fall and make sure we don't have a nudist colony when I get back. These 3 year olds just love taking their clothes off. Me, too, but I was a lot older," she quipped. As she often did, Miss Patty laughed merrily at her own joke.

Rory joined the girls in their circle as the CD played their dance music. They held hands, moving in a circle for a while, then everyone dropped hands and jumped around to the chorus. Back to the circle again, Rory smiled, enjoying the tension-easing mindlessness of the dancing and the happy expressions of the girls.

Patty gave them enough time together to ascertain that Rory's mood had brightened a little before joining them in the studio.

"Jess has gone?" she asked kindly.

"Yes," Rory answered a touch too politely. "He's going to call tonight when he gets home."

"Women and men with busy lives have to learn to deal with separation, honey. On tour, I found that the best thing to do was to keep busy."

"Yeah, I guess so," she mumbled.

"Of course, I had a couple of times when I forgot that I was supposed to be busy with someTHING, not someONE! Ended a marriage because I got that wrong once," she chuckled loudly.

Rory couldn't help smiling at Patty. She missed the manic workload of school, never had to figure out how to stay busy at Yale.

"Sure, sweetie. Come by anytime you want to talk or whatever. I'm there for you." She waved goodbye to Rory, who turned the corner and was gone.

Patty lit a cigarette and relished once more the beauty of Stars Hollow. People had stopped asking a long time ago why she lived here. She'd been around the world, played in lots of dives as well as some giant venues, seen all the exciting cities: Paris, New York, Rio. None was more vibrant and interesting than this town. Fine, some of the costumes were more colorful in the big cities, and there weren't nearly as many naked people on any given day, but everyone in Stars Hollow lived as passionately and completely as any big city person.

She could read people. In this friendly burg, she knew who was happy, who'd been arguing, who'd just had sex. She watched people grow up, thinking their private thoughts, never realizing that others, especially Patty, could see their secrets written on their faces and in their actions. She knew which "Taylor crimes" Jess had committed when he lived here, and when Rory fell for him instead of Dean. The thing she knew best of all was how to let others live their own lives. She tried never to betray what she knew, unless she believed they needed a kick in the butt. That's why she turned back to her dancers, they needed her help immediately as exemplified by the fact that tutus were flying around the room.

* * *

><p>"Hi Mom, it's me."<p>

"Lorelai?" The woman on the other end of the phone always had to confirm Lorelai's identity, as if she could still never quite believe that her daughter would contact her by choice.

_Luke's advice was to just stay cool and be direct. I can do this. I can do this. If I can run a friggin' inn, I can make a simple call and stay calm while doing it. Maybe. Hopefully._

"Yes, Mom, have you got a minute?"

"Certainly, Lorelai. All I've got left this afternoon is some gardening. What can I do for you?" Emily was a little surprised, but she couldn't detect any of Lorelai's normal mania. She sat down on a stone bench, still fiddling with her flowers in the tall planter next to her.

"Well, first I'd like to confirm that you're coming for lunch on Sunday. Two p.m. is the best time for us, because the test run will be over and we'll all need a bit of a break. You can help us read the comment cards; there are usually some unintentionally funny ones in the batch."

"Two p.m. is fine. Is there a dress code?"

"No, Mom, we're pretty casual here. Although, now that you mention it, if the weather's good, I'd like to eat on our side terrace, so come dressed for al fresco dining. Nobody's used the new garden furniture yet, and I'd like to give the kitchen staff some practice serving out there."

"Lorelai, that sounds like fun. This was a relief; Emily's idea of fun usually differed quite a bit from her daughter's. It would also give me a chance to find out if the inn would be a good venue for some of my charity events, like small lunches or tea. I know the Dragonfly isn't as big as the Independence Inn was, but maybe we can have some committee meetings or something there."

Lorelai was surprised that the phone call had gone nearly two and a half minutes, and there was no tension, there'd been no arguments, and no one had yelled at anyone else. Kinda freaky. _I wonder if I'll have to let Luke tell me 'I told you so.' That would be a shame, having to admit that he was right, _she joked to herself.

"Oh, Mom, there's a favor I'd like to ask. Do you have any free time on Friday?"

"I could probably find some time. What do you have in mind? It must be crazy over there at the inn; I can't imagine you want to go shopping or anything like that." Emily controlled her voice carefully, excited but nervous that this uncharacteristically pleasant conversation could take a disastrous turn at any moment.

"No, you're absolutely right about the craziness, but I am talking about a sort of shopping experience."

"What on earth are you talking about, Lorelai?"

"Can you come over and walk through the inn with Michel and Christy, our event planner? I'd like you to use your extraordinary powers of observation to give them feedback on how to create really great events at the Dragonfly."

"You want my advice?" _I'm glad I'm sitting down. Lorelai Gilmore wants my advice. What on earth has gotten into that girl?_

"Yes, Mom, no one can walk into a place like you can and instantly know how it can be better. I do ask that you keep your ideas to a level that will match our limited budget."

"How big is your budget for this, Lorelai?"

"For at least the first six months, it's approximately zero. We'd have to be able to pass all expenses on to the guests. Afterwards, though, we can take your ideas and allocate our future budgets strategically."

Emily was silent. _Lorelai's asking me to help. Really help on something that's important to her. Why does that make me feel nervous?_

"Mom? Are you still there?"

"Yes, Lorelai, I'm still here. I was just thinking. What did you say you will do with my suggestions?"

"Christy will write them down and we'll put them on a list with all of the other ideas coming in from guests and employees. Then we'll wait about six months, until we have a more settled budget.

"Will you keep me informed on the decisions? I'd hate to do the work and have it all be tossed out."

"As long as you promise to remember that we won't be able to do anything at all until we can afford it. Also that not every suggestion will be right for the type of inn Sookie and I are running. Basically I'm asking you to be a sort of consultant."

"Lorelai, I have to say something."

_Looks like I get to be right and not Luke after all. _"OK, Mom, shoot." She was relieved she was on the phone; you never knew when Emily Gilmore might take that request literally.

"I'll be honored to consult for you. After Rory, I think this is the nicest thing you've ever shared with me. Thank you."

Lorelai waited for the "but" and was happily surprised when it didn't come. She took a deep breath while Emily spent a moment telling her how much fun this would be.

"Mom, there's something else."

"What else could there be?"

"Well, it's about lunch on Sunday. I'd like you to, um, officially introduce you to, but, um, you've already met him, so …"

"Lorelai, are you still with Jason? He's suing our family! How could you ..."

"Mom! No! It's not Jason, I'm with Luke!" Lorelai's anxiety level skyrocketed. "Don't you remember? You met him at Persephone's last week."

"Luke? That was Luke at Persephone's?"

"Yes, Mom …" _Oh my God, I can't believe what she can't remember about that night! This is hilarious!_

"Not Jason?"

"No Mom, I couldn't think of dating Jason when he's suing my family. Even when we did date, we only had a casual relationship. I could never be serious about Jason."

"So, Luke."

"Yes, Luke, and I might as well tell you that we are very serious, like permanent serious."

"Oh my God," said Emily. _Now I know what's gotten into that girl. Oh my God, I'm making bawdy jokes like Lorelai does. _She laughed at herself.

_Here it comes_. Lorelai grimaced. _The 'are you pregnant' question. Wait? Was that a laugh? What's Emily laughing about?_

Emily continued. "How serious? Are you engaged? Have you known him long enough to be serious?"

"Mom, you've met Luke. We've seen each other almost every day for years. We were friends who always sensed we could become more, and going from a close and intense platonic relationship to a close and decidedly not platonic relationship turned out to be a surprisingly natural step. Maybe that's why we waited so long to take it."

"So, Luke."

"You covered that already, Mom. Are you alright?"

"Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"

Lorelai was stunned by Emily's wry humor. She'd honestly expected her to launch into a tirade of monumental proportions.

"It's me, Mom, if you don't believe me, I can tell you some deep dark secret. How about the one about Trix's carbon copied letter to Dad?"

"Oh, Lorelai, I believed you already. I'm just surprised about the change in you after all these years. What happened? I mean, the last time I saw you was at a normally stressful Friday Night Dinner a few weeks ago, and now… Well, it's all so different and strange."

"About a million things have happened, but we can talk about them some other time, I promise."

"So, Luke."

"Mom."

"Alright, Lorelai, I was just teasing you with the last one." Stunned silence again from Lorelai. _Teasing ME? _

Emily continued. "What exactly does 'serious' mean in your relationship with Luke?"

"He's started moving in, and we'll finish it after the Dragonfly opens. We're not dating; we're just in a relationship together. Period."

Lorelai took a more shaky breath this time, then said the most important words she'd tell her mother today. Maybe the most important words she'd utter to anyone on any day. "I love him, Mom, really completely love him. When I realized that, it was clear to me that I'd never loved Christopher at all. That was always a fantasy. Luke is real; his love for me is also real."

"Oh, Lorelai." Emily's feelings were torn. On the one side, Lorelai had opened up to her in a way she'd never seen before, but on the other hand, it was a Stars Hollow man she was in love with. Definitely not what Emily and Richard had hoped for. _Emily and Richard. There's another relationship that's not what I'd hoped for._

"Mom, one of the things I always admired in you and Dad was the fact that you love each other. I would never have had that same love with Christopher, but I do have it with Luke."

"Hmm. I was going to ask you if you were sure, but that question is answered already. I guess we'll talk on Sunday about this more, then. Have you told your father?"

"No Mom, it was more important to tell you first. You can tell him if you want to."

Emily reached over to a flower and snapped the head off, throttling the petals, which fell to the ground. _Like I'm going to talk to Richard any time soon._

"I probably won't see him before I leave for Europe, so you might plan on telling him the next time you see him. Did Rory tell you yet if she's coming with me? I'd like to book our tickets."

"No, Mom, I haven't heard Rory say anything definite. I do know she's seriously considering going with you. You two would have a great time."

Emily continued. "Is there anything else? Have you given birth to an alien baby? Did you finally start voting Republican?"

Lorelai laughed out loud at her mom's joke, which surprised both of them. They said their goodbyes and hung up, both rather mystified by how harmonious the last half hour had been.

Lorelai pressed her speed dial number 2 and was quickly connected to Luke's cell.

"Hey." He'd finally gotten used to look at the screen to find out who was calling, which was rather silly, since he wasn't sure anyone else besides Lorelai, Rory, Caesar and Lane had his number, and Caesar and Lane were both working.

"I am very annoyed at you," his beloved greeted him.

"OK, um, sorry? Or maybe, 'get over it?' What happened?"

"Nothing. Actually better than nothing. Because it was better, I am officially annoyed at you."

_What can I say that will get her through this bit the fastest? There's work to be done here._ Suddenly it occurred to him that she must have just talked to her mother. If Lorelai was annoyed at him, then she wasn't annoyed at her mother, which meant that they'd had a civil conversation. _Hah! I was right! That's why she's annoyed._

"Lu-uke, still here!"

"So tell me what you have to tell me, so I can start cooking your crow. For once I'm really going to enjoy watching you eat a whole bird." Now Luke really smirked. _It must be killing her to have to say I'm right._

_How did he figure that out? _"I told her everything, at least everything except Rory and Jess. That's Rory's news to tell if she wants. She was fine with it. Everything. Everything!" _Including you._

"So we're good for lunch on Sunday? She's coming to the inn tomorrow to help out?"

"Yes and Yes. She didn't denigrate anything, actually was pleased about some things." Admittedly Emily hadn't displayed any particular enthusiasm about Luke, but they would deal with that on Sunday.

"OK, then. Sounds like we're good." He paused, then added, "Now say it so we can both get back to work."

"I can hear your smirk over the phone line."

"No smirk, no phone line, remember it's wireless, radio waves, you know. And you can't hear a smile anyway."

"I can hear a smile in your voice, my friend, and your smile makes you look like the cat that ate the canary."

"Lorelai, you're stalling. Get it over with, or Kirk won't get his lunch."

"Not exactly a big motivation, that one, Luke."

"I'm waiting."

She puffed out an angry quiet snort. "You were right."

He laughed. "That's my girl. I love you for saying that, but I really have to go."

She grudgingly smiled back over the radio waves. "I love you too, you sadist."

* * *

><p>Luke bounded happily up the stairs to the office. He and Lorelai had started making it over from an apartment into an office with a bedroom. There hadn't been any time to make fundamental changes, but they spent half an hour rearranging furniture and tossing ideas around.<p>

The desk was pulled out to the middle of the room and faced the door, just like any office; the filing cabinets filled the wall where the desk had been. The leather easy chair was now set at an angle to the desk; she'd decided that's where she would sit when she came to visit Stars Hollow's most handsome investor, as she called him. She'd hiked her skirt up and showed him things that would instigate a sexual harassment lawsuit in any normal office; but she was his life partner (_man, we need to move to a more traditional title soon, like fiancée or wife – life partner just doesn't do it for me_), and her simple act had driven him wild, ending the office redecorating and proving that the mattress on his old bed still functioned perfectly.

He pulled the books out and began working through the diner's daily and monthly records. Luke couldn't wait until the Dragonfly had stabilized, because Lorelai had promised to take over the diner's books and get them all onto the computer. That would be a relief; maybe he could start taking more time off. Now that there was a reason (a Lorelai) to go home, it had become a lot harder to put in 16 hour days.

Luke had just begun looking at the first quarter's revenues when a familiar footstep sounded on the stairs.

"What th …"

It sounded like Jess' footsteps, but that was impossible. Rory had been in the diner not an hour ago and said he was gone. But there he was.

"Hey."

Jess nodded his return greeting.

"You just missed Rory. She stopped by for some coffee."

"Nah, we said goodbye already, I just forgot a book up here at Liz' wedding and I wanted to get it." He looked around at the room, and walked to the kitchen window, where he picked up a vase standing on the windowsill. "Gettin' soft in your old age, I see. Next you'll be planting petunias."

"Eh, Lorelai put that there, called it one less argument we have to have at Thanksgiving. 'Course she didn't stop to think that we're hosting the next Thanksgiving dinner and not just me, so she'd be giving herself flowers."

He looked at Jess for a moment, but the younger man didn't get to the point. It was obvious that there was no book to find, but why Jess had come, Luke still didn't know. He sat back in his chair and waited.

Finally Luke gave up. "You know she loves you, right?"

"Maybe, but I don't understand why she won't even spend the summer in New York. What's going to happen if I get that job in Philadelphia? It will only get worse."

"There aren't many choices, Jess. Either it's a compromise, or one of you gives up more than the other."

"There's no reason why she can't take a few months off and do something different. I know it's what we both want!"

"Rory also wants a Yale education. Yale's a damned expensive school; she has an obligation to her family. They're paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for her to go, and it's on a schedule. It would be easier for you to change your plans than her."

"There's nothing for me in New Haven! I'd never find a job that pays as much as I earn now, and I'm counting on that Philadelphia job. We could be making our own lives, not lives stamped out by a cookie cutter university!"

"There's nothing in New Haven but Rory."

Jess was pacing the room, his wiry body strung too tightly to stand still.

"Ah, you've got it easy, Luke. Just sat like a dope and waited until she finally got around to looking at you. I'm not going to waste my life waiting!"

Luke was steaming, but he held himself together as long as he could. Springing to his feet, he got in Jess' face, forcing him to look up.

"Jess, think about the long game. You make compromises now, and you'll be with her while she finishes what she has to finish. You know she has to finish school. She wants that more than anything."

Bitterly, Jess ground out his pain. "When will SHE make a compromise," he muttered, not expecting an answer.

"Jess, you just haven't even given her a chance to make a compromise! All you're asking her to do is what you want. That means you're asking her to give up everything! You know she can't do that. Give a little and see how much she gives back. You won't find a more giving heart than Rory's. For God's sake, she LOVES you! When was the last time someone really loved you? You should be crawling back to her on your hands and knees, begging her to take you back, doing whatever it takes to keep her!"

Jess' stony silence frustrated Luke, though not to the point where he was quite ready to give up on the conversation. It was so rare that Jess seemed to want his advice, however sullenly it was received.

"If you keep dropping in on her life once a year, throwing her ultimatums, you will always lose. One day you'll stand there, watching her with some other guy, and she really won't love you anymore."

Luke had never forgotten Jess' painful words about his feelings for Lorelai a year ago.

"You talk about being whipped. Fifteen minutes with her every six months is not a relationship, it's stalking. Add to that your silent phone calls and you have a felony, my friend."

"There you go, taking her side again." _Luke always takes the Gilmores' side against me._

"No! This is exactly what taking YOUR side looks like! You have to get it through your thick head that there is no running away to Philadelphia together. You compromise or you get nothing!"

"Why aren't you telling her this?"

"Because she already knows it, you idiot!" Luke turned away, throwing his hands downward in disgust.

"I gotta go." Pain etched in his face, Jess ran down the stairs and out the back door, with Luke yelling after him.

"Just think about it!" Luke sank down into his chair and put his face in his hands. _I failed him. Again._

* * *

><p>Lorelai walked into the library where Rory had been quietly working for the past half hour.<p>

"Rory!? How long have you been here?" she asked. It was curious that Rory had neither come to her office, nor to the kitchen, where she and Sookie had been prepping for Saturday. Prep work in the kitchen for Lorelai meant tasting each batch of cookies that Sookie had been baking.

"Oh, hi, Mom," she said dejectedly. "I brought over the CDs and extra books you wanted. Thought I'd go ahead and put them away while I was here."

"Where's Jess?" Lorelai asked. "Was he going back to New York today?"

"Yeah, he's gone." She looked up at her mother. "I'm not sure if we're even still together."

"Why? What happened? Did you fight?"

"Yes, well, maybe. He wanted me to go to New York for the summer, and maybe longer. I told him I couldn't, and it's true, but I'm not sure he's OK with it."

"Where did you leave it after you talked?" Lorelai was concerned that Rory would make a rash decision affecting her whole future.

"I'm going to visit him, but he wouldn't even consider staying here and finding a job. I can't figure out how to fix it." Rory closed the drawer with a slam and plopped herself on the sofa.

"That really irks me! How can he treat you like that?" Lorelai had always held the unbiased opinion of thinking Rory was an infallible angel, and hence reflexively blamed Jess and Jess alone for all of their problems.

"Mom, it was my decision to get back with Jess. I know what I'm doing."

Lorelai sat beside Rory and put her arm around her shoulders. "Hon, don't get me wrong, but are you sure you want to start this with him? I mean, it's Jess. I don't want you to get hurt again."

"Mom! Don't you understand? This is not something I'm considering, it's happened and that's that!" Rory looked hurt.

"I think you need to just get used to it," she added petulantly.

"Rory, you've got to understand that I can't just stand here and see you so sad without at least saying something! I'm worried that you're putting Yale at risk!"

"Mom, this is what I need. I know what I want, and my degree from Yale is part of that. I love Jess, and he loves me, we both know that."

"OK, hon, I'll try to understand. I'm just worried about you."

"I've got some worries, too, Mom. I don't understand how he doesn't seem to understand how important Yale and journalism is to me. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't hear me telling him what I want. All he can talk about is New York and Philadelphia."

"Well, maybe you'll find a way to help him see it. You're a champion debater, remember. Make sure you become what you want to become, not what he wants you to be."

"I need a break. I think I'm going to Lane's for a while, take my mind off things. Might spend the night."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I talked to your grandmother today. She was wondering if you decided about Europe yet."

"I haven't quite decided, but I'm leaning towards yes. It would make her so happy, and some time away to think wouldn't hurt either. Maybe Jess' job will be settled by the time we get back." Rory packed up her little bag and gathered her things. "I'm so mad at him! If he would just come to Stars Hollow or Hartford and find a job, I'd stay here this summer."

_Europe. New York. Philadelphia. Rory has so many options. This summer, she wouldn't even notice if I made her bedroom into a sewing room. My girl is gone. It never occurred to me that she'd be gone after her first year at school. She doesn't even have me on her list this summer._

Lorelai walked Rory to the door of the inn, waved goodbye, and watched her angel spread her wings. Before she had a chance to wallow, Michel came with a list of problems that urgently needed her attention.

* * *

><p>Thursday night, Lorelai wasn't waiting at home for Luke to close the diner; he got home before she did. A good hour before she did. He'd brought some more boxes over, and once he'd showered and changed, he still had time to unpack them and put the empty boxes back in the truck for another trip tomorrow.<p>

The conversations with Jess and Rory lay heavy on his mind; he and Lorelai needed to decide what they could do to help. He turned most of the lights off, just one or two lamps burned, giving a soft glow to the living room. After the bright lights of the diner, the darkness was peaceful and comforting. This was his favorite time of day; it would have been even better if Lorelai were here as she usually was.

When Lorelai finally came in the door, she was completely wiped. The methodical preparation phase for the inn had ended; there was nothing to do except rush around tomorrow, tweak the most important things, and hope that the test run would go well. _The pressure was constant, the stress was enormous. What have I forgotten? Would there be a disaster? How would we cope?_ Her mind raced as fast as it had been racing for the past six months, but her strength was nearly tapped out.

Once she had showered and changed, they sat on the sofa while Luke gave her a back rub. To get deep into her shoulders, she moved to a stack of pillows in front of the sofa, and sat between Luke's legs.

"Hang in there," he said lovingly, his head nuzzling hers as she tried to relax into the feeling of his hands. "You've almost made it. Soon the inn will be open and you'll barely remember this exhaustion."

He massaged deeply into the tightest muscles. Just as he felt one muscle release its stress, she broke down in tears. "Oh Luke, it's all too much."

"Shh, shh, it will all get better soon, it's all right." He pulled her close for an enveloping hug, trying to give her some comfort. "Aw, Lorelai, I wish I could take more of this off you."

She pushed away from him, still crying, then turned back immediately to hang on his leg. "No, it's not getting better! It's all so different from what I expected!"

"What's different? The inn is exactly the way you planned it. It's ready, you're ready."

"Rory."

"Ah." He pulled her up onto the sofa next to him, letting her stretch out, her head on his chest. He reached up and turned another lamp off, giving them the safety of near-darkness to talk. Darkness always helped Luke think.

"She's gone, Luke. I blinked and she's gone. We had this incredible relationship, but now … now I don't even make it onto her list. My mother, Jess, Lane, school. Everyone but me is on her list."

"How is this different from her years at Chilton? She had all those things back then, but you two did just fine. At least except for the time you were going to kill Dean for kissing her." He gave her a gentle shake to see if she could respond to his lame humor. The normally lighthearted Lorelai didn't even smile.

"We had time every day, hours of time together. That's gone, I don't even know where she sleeps half the time, and a boyfriend at 19 is so different from her first high school boyfriend. And it's Jess." Lorelai squeezed her eyes shut as if it could help erase the thoughts she didn't want to face.

Luke stiffened a little, bothered by the way she said Jess' name.

"But Lorelai, they're together. They chose to be together. You know he really loves Rory, right? He's loved her for years. He wouldn't do …"

Luke stopped short. He didn't have to finish. Lorelai knew what he was going to say, and it wasn't true. Jess would hurt her. He already had. There were the multiple small emotional injuries while she still dated Dean, and then the fatal wound when he left town without saying goodbye. Both of them knew this; it didn't need to be rehashed.

"And then there was the time…the car, or what was left of the car…"

Lorelai felt Luke turn his head away before she even saw it. She knew that he was thinking about the same thing she was. The car accident that destroyed their friendship had come back to haunt them.

Luke rubbed his hand over his face, trying to wipe away the memories.

"He was driving and he hurt her, Luke," she said quietly, putting her hand on his shoulder. "He didn't want to, but it hurt her nonetheless." She sensed fury growing inside his body; his muscles felt like steel, hard and cold.

"That's not true! They made that mistake together. They both decided where to go and when. Rory told me. She told me that she told you. They were both at fault. And it was an accident!"

"I know that now, but that night I just wasn't thinking. I blamed you when it wasn't your fault. It was despicable, and I've never forgiven myself." Ashamed, she let her shoulders slump in regret.

Luke was equally morose. "I failed him when I sent him away. I failed you when I couldn't forgive you."

They were both so miserably lost in their own private regrets, they barely heard each other speaking.

"All I wanted was to have my Luke back, but he didn't come back. Everything was different. I missed you so much." _She didn't call him 'my Luke' when she said it the first time, but she knew now that's what she meant._

"When Christopher came, I thought you were gone forever. After losing Jess, it was unbearable to think I was losing you as well."

Luke couldn't sit anymore. He stood and paced, a shadow in the darkened room, almost not there at all. She looked at the outline of his figure moving in the darkness. Feelings of panic overtook him. He looked frantically around the room.

"I can't breathe. Gotta get outside, get some air. I'll be back." He covered the distance to the door in a few steps, grabbed his jacket and went blindly outside.

The last sound she heard from him was the thud of his shoes on the steps as he practically flew off the porch.

_This can't be happening. Why would he leave over something that happened a year ago? _She couldn't face the thought that Luke might not come back; she pulled on shoes and dashed out the door. She had to find him.

He wasn't on the street following his normal path to the diner. Could he have moved that fast? Was he really gone?

"Lorelai." His voice came from her left. She turned and saw Luke standing under the chuppah. His jacket lay on the ground and he stood there, looking pained and lost. She ran to him and threw herself on him.

"Luke!"

The pain on his face was intensified by the shadows cast by the streetlight. He put one hand on each of her arms and gave himself the gift of space, even if was only the four inches that he pushed her away. Uncomprehending, she stared at his hands as he released her arms, then searched his face, trying to understand what had hurt him so badly that he still found it hard to talk about.

"I stood there that night and I let you yell at me, but you never gave me the opportunity to tell you how I felt. I needed to know you understood that I had to take care of all three of you. It wasn't fair of you to demand for him to leave. You didn't trust me."

"Luke, why didn't you tell me this then?"

"As soon as I knew that Jess was OK I came to talk to you. I wanted to make you understand that I cared about all of you, that I – I loved you, all three of you." He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm himself.

"When I got to your house, it was completely dark, and there was his motorcycle standing next to your Jeep. The next day I tried again, but it was the same. There was no answer to my knock; I had no idea where you were. You never once called, or came to talk to me, not even to find out what had happened to Jess. You didn't even come tell me how Rory was doing." His mouth was set in a grim straight line, his eyes glittered with anger he hadn't even known he still felt.

"The day after Jess left I tried to work, but the gossip was constant. Jess the criminal. Lorelai and Christopher. Rory's dad is back. Luke sent Jess away. I couldn't stand it, I needed to get away. Outdoors where there was no one yelling at me, no one whispering behind my back, and no one reminding me of our friendship."

"My heart was broken over both you and Jess. After that night I knew that I couldn't go on in the same way. Things had to be different. I promised myself I'd stop loving you." After losing his parents, trying to give up the Gilmore girls would be the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. His heart felt pain even now when he thought of it.

Lorelai wrapped her arms around herself, shocked and dejected. "That's why you changed," she whispered, not wanting to believe it, but knowing she had to. "That year, you were so distant. You pushed me away with sarcasm and jokes. You wanted me out of your life. I did that to you."

Luke scoffed at his own naiveté. "I failed at that, too. Turns out you don't stop loving someone just because you want to, so I pretended I didn't love you. Foolishly I believed that if I pretended long enough, the pain would go away."

"I wish you'd had the chance to tell me this back then. I would have found a way to tell you what you needed to hear; to tell you what you meant to us," she said. "I'm so sorry, Luke. You are the family I've always wanted, that Rory and I always needed, with all its associated quirks and problems. Jess is part of you; your family is my family. Luke, I didn't understand then, but I understand now. Can you forgive me?" Finally understanding how much pain he'd endured because of her irrational anger, she hoped for forgiveness and a chance to heal his wounds.

Luke's face softened as he looked at her, reaching up to touch and smooth her hair.

"Forgiveness happened long ago, when I accepted that loving you was simply who I am."

Lorelai fisted his shirt as if that could hold him in place and make sure he could never leave. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"When you went out the door tonight I was so scared. I was afraid you'd gone; that you'd left me, that what I'd done was unforgivable."

"Lorelai, I told you I was going outside, not out of your life. I need the outdoors when the pressure becomes too much. Just because we have things to work on doesn't mean we're through." Luke watched her expression until he felt she understood his message.

"We're not naïve teenagers; we can make this work if we choose. Jess and Rory are going to hurt each other and we can't do much about it. I just needed to know that you understood how much Jess being a part of our family means to me."

She nodded, tears threatening as Luke took her fully back in his arms.

"I'm not leaving you, Lorelai. It's like my life isn't even real when you aren't in it. Anyway, where would I go? I'm already home."


	9. To Family

To Family

She looked down at her sleeping Luke, letting the memory of his reassurances tonight wash over her. _He's already home, he said. I've been running around like a madwoman, thinking about nothing but the Dragonfly, taking advantage of him, and he's letting me abuse him without a single complaint. I come home at night worn out, worthless to him, but he's there with food, coffee, love, hugs, and encouragement. I'm the luckiest woman in the world._

She brushed a stray hair back into place on his head, letting the curls on the back of his head wrap themselves around her fingers. Those curls were her favorite part of his hair, but it was their shared secret just how much she liked the smooth skin of his receding hairline. He wore his cap pretty much everywhere-except when he was alone with her. She liked watching his scalp when he wrinkled his forehead while deep in thought, or when she had really exasperated him. The latter occurred more often. One of her favorite hobbies was to invent new crazy things to say to him, just so she could see him go through the cycle: confusion, disbelief, exasperation and finally relief as he figured out that she had been teasing him all along. By then she could see the smile in his eyes and the promise that he would get his revenge one day, but her favorite phase came just before it: the exasperation. His eyebrows would pop up, then he'd work his jaw, getting the idea that something fishy was going on, finally opening his hand (_those hands!_) as if he could pluck the solution out of thin air. While all those emotions were flying across his face, his scalp stayed smooth and quiet. _He could go bald tomorrow and it wouldn't matter one iota to me. Rather the opposite, actually. My sweet balding husband sitting next to his gray-haired wife sounds like a dream come true. It would be an accomplishment, staying together long enough to fall apart. _

She looked at the clock on the nightstand. After 2 a.m. It's Friday already. _In 24 hours the test run starts, and here I am, dreaming about retirement._ The funny thing is, there isn't really that much to do today. Mom is coming in for her consulting gig; Sookie will make the final kitchen checks and preparations. Michel and I have been over every room, every front desk process so many times we can do them in our sleep. _Sleep. _This would be a good time to finally get some. Sleep that is, not that other 'some,' she giggled witlessly.

Lorelai tucked her feet under the comforter and lay flat on her back in bed. She squeezed her eyes closed and willed sleep to come. Every cell of her body was wide awake, and Luke was asleep. As usual he'd taken over the sweet spot in the bed when he was in his deep sleep phase, arms and legs going every which way.

The sweet spot was sleeping heaven. It was the perfect mix of broken-in mattress and room to spread out. She could line up pillows on both sides of her body, get the comforter just right. An extra pillow at her head would be flipped over as soon as she needed to feel the cool fabric on her cheek.

His body weighed a ton like this, but she couldn't wake him with anything short of a bomb when he slept so deeply. Mostly it didn't matter, because they slept with limbs entangled anyway, often enough collapsing where they'd finished their enthusiastic lovemaking. Tonight had been different, they'd made love slowly, deeply and deliberately rather than the urgent coupling that had been their way in recent days. "I'm already home," echoed in her brain as they held each other, moving in the same rhythm, loving each other in their home.

_We can make love any time we want, in **our** home._

None of that mattered at (she looked at the clock) 2:26 in the morning. He was hogging the sweet spot and she couldn't sleep. Moving his arms and legs was useless. She tried pushing on his shoulder, but couldn't budge him. He didn't react. _Dead weight. Handsome, sexy dead weight._

_Our home. How well had Luke settled in? _Her whole body started as she realized they'd had very little time to move Luke into the Crap Shack. He moved his clothes over in the first days, but Lorelai honestly couldn't remember the last time they'd gone to the apartment to pack up and bring over his stuff. She hadn't even thought about where to put Luke's things.

Time to start making some more space for him. Past time, actually. She slipped on her pajamas and crept silently down the stairs, even though Luke had proven repeatedly that he would sleep through almost anything, like the night she made a midnight snack run to the kitchen. Actually forgetting that she wasn't alone, she turned the radio on and danced and sang loudly and off-tune to the Jackson Five while the toaster pizza toasted. When she caught herself, she quickly turned off the radio and listened, but heard nothing but snoring in return.

Tonight she left the door open so she could hear him if he woke. Truth be told, she enjoyed the snoring. It let her know she wasn't alone. Flipping on the hallway light, she looked around, trying to figure out where to begin._ Water. I'm thirsty._ She went into the kitchen, opened the fridge and reached past the cheese and grapes to get a bottle of water. Idly looking at the contents of the refrigerator, she concluded that it was time to clean it out again; it was too full to handle any more half-empty pizza boxes. Her sleep-deprived perception at this moment was so foggy that Luke's food filling the fridge might as well have been invisible.

Starting with the entrance, Lorelai tried to remember what Luke had that belonged in the foyer. She toed his work shoes back onto the mat in the corner where she and Rory had always taken off their dirty shoes, and there was plenty of room for all three of them to leave shoes when needed. She picked up a brown umbrella that she didn't recognize in the stand. _Must be Lane's umbrella. Luke needs to bring his over. Oh! I ought to leave a jacket or a sweater at the apartment. A list. I need to make a list of things to move to both places._ She went to the telephone desk and searched in the drawer for a notepad and pen. Looking at the basket she noticed that Rory had left her address book behind. _Funny, I thought she had a beige address book, not a brown one._

The living room was messy, but otherwise OK. The magazines had multiplied in these last weeks before the Dragonfly opening, and a small stack of quilts at the far end looked out of place, but she could put them away later. _Must check to see if Luke's leather sofa would be a better fit for this room. Oh! And maybe I should put my sewing stuff in the back of the office. I could leave my projects out, OK, I rarely put them away in the first place, but the best thing would be that I could sew there on the weekends while Luke works. We wouldn't be far apart at all. Second-best thing would be the endless supply of coffee. I could sew forever there. OK! Sewing stuff goes on the list!_

The hall closet held Lorelai's darkest secrets and, as Lorelai would soon discover, so did the one in Luke's apartment. She opened the door, several items in the pile on the bottom of the closet floor rolled out. The fisherman's hat she decided to throw away – it would be too easy to hurt Luke's feelings over Alex, despite the fact that the latter never crossed even her mind. The girls' Rocky Horror Picture Show shoes fell off the pile as well. Lorelai paused, assessed the increasing probability that she would get Luke to finally dress as Dr. Frank N. Furter (_that black dress seems to be pretty effective)_, and tossed the shoes back into the closet. Her ice skates were still there, uncleaned since she wore them skating with Rory, still dangerously sharp as the small scar on her little toe proved. Sighing, she shook the hangers, guessed that they could still shove a few more jackets into the space and closed the door, pleased that it closed without the assistance of white-gloved Japanese subway pushers.

In the kitchen she crumpled the hat and shoved it into the bottom of the trash can. _The kitchen is a great place to make room for Luke's things. After all, he knows how to cook and has purchased actual cooking utensils and uses them for the purpose they were intended, unlike her and Rory, who tended to use spatulas for Tater Tot ping-pong. He deserves to have the kitchen just as he wants it. All of our stuff was either handed down from Sookie or bought at a flea market. I'll just take it all out and put it in the next town rummage sale. We won't be eating at home for the next few days anyway, so it's not like we need the stuff. After the test run, I can move Luke's kitchen in one trip-well, more like two. Possibly three._

She went out back and grabbed some empty boxes that were lying on the porch. Placing a box on each chair, she started looking through the drawers to decide what should go. The first drawer stunned her. _Where in the world did we buy some of these things? What are they even used for? We really have to stop watching those cooking shows, it just makes us buy crap that looks cool and efficient, but never gets used. _She decided to simply throw away everything that was in the drawer. _Luke surely has everything we need._

Everything went much faster once she'd made that confident, forward-looking decision. The contents of one drawer after another were dropped into the boxes, generally with a loud clatter. Very satisfied with her performance on the cabinet to the right of the stove, she moved to the other side. The top drawer contained an alarming amount of spatulas and spoons. Before she could pick them up and add them to the 'dispose of' pile, a haunting "Lorelai" came ringing through the house.

_Luke? What was he doing up? He can sleep through anything. _She went to the stairs, discovering a sleepy Luke scratching his belly and coming downstairs toward her.

Lorelai felt a twinge of lust when she saw her sleep-rumpled boyfriend, eyes half closed, wearing nothing but his T-shirt and sweats coming down the stairs. She wriggled her hips and climbed the first stair, about to tug on the pieces of his clothing that desperately needed removing, which in her opinion was all of them, when he abruptly killed the mood.

"What the hell is going on down here? Are you all right? Do you know what time it is?"

_Apparently it's a short jump from sexy sleepy Luke to grumpy sleep-deprived Luke._

"I was just making room for your things. It's way past time to get you moved. I need to know what you want to bring over here. You know, furniture and stuff." She was bubbling with an eagerness to take care of this man who rarely needed taking care of-and certainly never asked for it even when he did.

"What are you talking about? Why aren't you in bed? Did you sleep at all?" Seeing her manic expression, he came down the stairs, sat heavily down on the lower landing and pulled her to him. _She was fruitcake-level nutty tonight._

"You are so great and so loving, but I've been so busy with the Dragonfly, we haven't had a chance to bring your things home. You need your stuff." She'd never be able to move someplace with just a few clothes. A Gilmore girl needs her things around her to make a home. It was only logical that a significant other of a Gilmore girl would require the same.

Luke rubbed his face, trying to decide where to start. "I don't understand, Lorelai, I'm almost moved in. There's nothing left in the apartment I want to bring over except for my trophies and some photo albums."

"Oh, no no no, there must be more. I've made a list." Her eyes darted around the room, trying to remember where the list went. "Come here, I'll show you."

She led him into the foyer. "See, you have a place for your umbrellas, and your shoes when it's muddy. That's good, right?" Continually assessing her mental state, he stared first at her, then at his own brown umbrella in the stand.

"Now in the living room, there's nothing of yours yet. Do you want to bring the leather sofa over? It may not be really comfortable, but it's certainly better than this old lump of a sofa that I have. Once I get rid of these excess magazines and put these quilts away, there'll be room for your books and pillows, and all of the stuff that makes your apartment so cozy."

"Lorelai."

Touching the letter holder on the phone desk, she continued, "Over here, there's enough space for your address book and charger for your cell phone. Don't look in the hall closet yet, it's kind of messy, but I think we can find room for your coats there as well."

Luke took matters and Lorelai's shoulders into his own hands. Pushing her gently to the sofa, he made her sit down and sat himself down on the coffee table.

"Lorelai, you know this quilt, right?" he asked, taking the top quilt off the stack and putting it in her hands.

She looked at it and said, "Not really, I don't remember having this quilt in the house before. Oh! Oh! Wait! Isn't this the quilt from the end of your bed in the apartment?"

He nodded.

"That means you brought it over already?" Another nod came from Luke.

"There's more, Lorelai, look. See this stack of magazines?"

"Yes, sorry I let the stack get so large; I'll throw out the older ones."

"No, those aren't all your magazines, some are mine." He waved a sports magazine in front of her face. "See? You haven't started reading about baseball yet, have you?" He stood up and took her to the phone table.

"Notice that my phone is plugged in already, and that brown book there is my address book. Already moved."

She smiled, a glazed, distant look in her eyes betraying her sleep-deprived state. "That's great. Now all we have to do is the kitchen. And find a place for Bert. Where should Bert live? Come look at the kitchen, I've got so much space ready for your cooking utensils and gadgets."

She jumped to her feet and move toward the kitchen, waving at him to follow.

"Here you go. Look at how many drawers I've emptied for you. I'm going to throw these things out tomorrow, and we can get your favorite tools from the apartment. Won't it be great for you to cook here?"

"Oh my God, Lorelai, what have you done?!" All of the careful organization he'd brought to the kitchen was ruined.

"I know! Great, isn't it!?" She bounced up and down, her hands on his shoulders as he stared at her open-mouthed.

"It was all perfectly organized! Now everything's in boxes! Geez, I'm gonna have to start all over again."

He put his hands on her hips and applied enough pressure to bring her back to Earth. Perhaps getting her back into bed would help her come down from this panic. He recognized it as her stress over the opening of the inn. Where he ran back to the storage room, threw up, fainted, and hit his head, she was going into compulsively organized overdrive.

"You know what, sweetheart," he said, "We need to toast the move. I thought I saw some tequila here somewhere." He grabbed two shot glasses out of a cabinet she hadn't emptied yet (_is that Daffy Duck?)_ and poured a generous shot for her and a smaller one for himself. Going back to sleep was not going to be a problem for him, but he thought she would benefit from a good stiff drink.

"Hey," he said, "you haven't seen the photos yet. Let me show you."

He took her gently by the waist and guided her to the mantel, where Lorelai kept her favorite photographs in small frames.

"See? Here's my favorite photograph of you two, back when Rory was just 12. Another one, after she started at Chilton and over here are pictures of Liz and Jess." Liz and Jess each had their own picture, Liz at age 21, and Jess shortly after he turned 17.

Seeing these things that she'd missed earlier, these precious treasures of Luke's, Lorelai calmed down, leaning up against him as he pointed out the ways he'd enriched her home without her even noticing.

He pulled a small faded photo in a silver frame from the far side of the mantel. "This is my family back when I was eight: my parents, Liz, me and Uncle Louie." Next to that one was a slightly larger picture of the three of them from last Thanksgiving: Luke, Lorelai and Rory, the girls hamming it up around Luke while he was caught mid-eye-roll.

"That's my family today," he said quietly, squeezing her shoulder affectionately. "Let's toast to family."

"It's not right," she whispered. "We need to fix it before we toast."

"Here," she continued, "This will give us a start." She tucked the picture of Jess just behind the Thanksgiving picture. "Now our family is complete. We'll have a better picture taken the next time we're all together."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder again and buried his face in her hair, blinking fiercely. He couldn't have spoken for a few moments even if had found the words to say.

One deep breath and one deep kiss later, Luke and Lorelai were ready to toast.

"To family."

They drained their glasses, placed the tiny Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck glasses on the mantel next to the picture of their family, and went back to bed.


End file.
